University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


PIONEER   WOMEN 


OF  THE   WEST. 


BY   MES.    ELLET, 

ATTTHQB  OF     "XITB   WOMEN  OF  TUB   AMERICAN    REVOLUTION,1*    DTO. 


NEW  YORK: 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER,   145   NASSAU   STREET. 
1852. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 

CHAELES    SCRIBNEK, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


Stereotyped  and  Printed  by 
C.   W.  BENEDICT, 
201  William  Street 


PIONEER  WOMEN  OF  THE  WEST. 


PREFACE. 

AN  appropriate  supplement  to  the  memoirs  of  the 
"  Women  of  the  American  Kevohition,"  is  the  story  of 
the  wives  and  mothers  who  ventured  into  the  western 
wilds,  and  bore  their  part  in  the  struggles  and  labors  of 
the  early  pioneers.  Indeed,  so  obvious  a  consequence  of 
the  Revolution  was  the  diffusion  of  the  spirit  of  emigra- 
tion, that  the  one  work  naturally  calls  for  the  other,  the 
domestic  history  of  the  period  being  incomplete  without 
it.  To  supply  this  want,  very  little  published  material 
existed,  and  that  little  in  the  shape  of  brief  anecdotes, 
scattered  through  historical  collections  made  in  several 
Western  States,  and  scarcely  known  in  other  parts  of  the 
Union.  But  a  vast  store  might  be  yielded  from  the 
records  of  private  families,  and  the  still  vivid  recollec- 
tions of  individuals  who  had  passed  through  the  expe- 
riences of  frontier  and  forest  life,  and  it  was  not  yet  too 


vi  PREFACE.    » 

late  to  save  from  oblivion  much  that  would  be  the  more 
interesting  and  valuable,  as  the  memory  of  those  primi- 
tive times  receded  into  the  past. 

Application  has  been  made,  accordingly,  to  the  proper 
sources  throughout  the  Western  States,  and  the  result 
enables  me  to  offer  such  a  series  of  authentic  sketches  as 
will  not  only  exhibit  the  character  of  many  pioneer 
matrons — characters  that  would  pass  for  strongly  marked 
originals  in  any  fiction — but  will  afford  a  picture  of  the 
times  in  the  progressive  settlement  of  the  whole  country, 
from  Tennessee  to  Michigan.  To  render  this  picture  as 
complete  as  possible,  descriptions  of  the  domestic  life  and 
manners  of  the  pioneers,  and  illustrative  anecdotes  from 
reliable  sources,  have  been  interwroven  with  the  memoirs, 
and  notice  has  been  taken  of  such  political  events  as  had 
an  influence  on  the  condition  of  the  country. 

All  the  biographies,  except  those  of  Mrs.  Boone  and 
Mary  Moore,  have  been  prepared  from  private  records, 
furnished  by  relatives  or  friends,  and  in  two  or  three 
instances  by  the  subjects.  I  do  not  except  those  of  Mrs. 
Williams  and  Mrs.  Rouse,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  the 
courtesy  of  Dr.  S.  P.  Hildreth,  though  they  appeared  in 
a  more  extended  form  many  years  since,  in  a  Western 
periodical  of  limited  circulation.  My  grateful  acknowl- 
edgments are  due  to  Mr.  Milton  A.  Haynes,  of  Tennessee, 


,:.    PREFACE.  Vil 

for  the  memoirs  of  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  Mrs.  Brown  and  Mrs. 
Shelby,  written  for  this  work ;  and  also  to  Mr.  A.  "W". 
Putnam,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  for  those  of  Mrs. 
Sevier  and  Mrs.  Sparks.  Both  in  Tennessee  and  Ohio  I 
had  access  to  valuable  manuscripts  belonging  to  the 
Historical  Societies,  and  to  letters  in  the  possession  of 
individuals.  For  most  of  the  sketches  illustrative  of 
Michigan,  included  in  those  of  Mrs.  Clark,  Mrs.  Bryan, 
Mrs.  Rumsey  and  Mrs.  Noble,  I  have  pleasure  in  acknowl- 
edging my  obligations  to  an  accomplished  friend — Miss 
Mary  H.  Clark  of  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan.  The  published 
works  from* which  extracts  have  been  made,  are  generally 
mentioned,  and  a  repetition  of  authorities  would  be 
unnecessary.  Flint's  Life  of  Boone,  Dr.  Hildreth's  Notes 
on  the  Pioneer  History  of  Ohio,  HDWC'S  Historical  Col- 
lections of  Ohio,  and  Lanman's  History  of  Michigan, 
have  chiefly  aided  me,  though  a  vast  number  of  other 
books  have  been  consulted. 

A  word  may  be  permitted  here  as  to  the  proprietorship 
of  memoirs  prepared  from  original  materials  derived 
from  private  sources.  It  seems  reasonable  that  the  exclu- 
sive right  should  belong  to  the  one  who  procures  and 
works  up  such  materials  ;  and  that  no  other  person  can, 
without  a  violation  of  the  principles  of  common  justice, 
make  use  of  the  memoirs  to  such  an  extent  as  to  inter 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

fere  with  the  interests  of  the  original  work.  This  remark 
is  called  forth  by  the  fact  that  a  volume  was  published  in 
Buffalo,  in  1851,  entitled  "Noble  Deeds  of  American 
Women,  with  Biographical  Sketches  of  some  of  the  more 
prominent" — in  which  thirty-eight  sketches  prepared 
entirely  from  original  manuscripts,  (the  subjects  not  even 
named  in  any  other  published  work,)  were  taken  from  the 
volumes  of  "  The  Women  of  the  American  ^Revolution," 
twenty-six  of  them  being  appropriated,  in  an  abridged 
form,  without  the  slightest  acknowledgment. 

E.  F.  E. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

I.  MARY  BLEDSOE, 13 

II.  CATHARINE  SEVIER,     .         .         .         .         .         .29 

III.  REBECCA  BOONE,         ......      42 

MRS.  MASON,       .......      58 

ANNA  INNIS,        .         .         .         .         .         .         .61 

SARAH  COMBS,    .......       62 

IV.  CHARLOTTE  ROBERTSON,       .....       63 
MRS.  DUNHAM,    .         .         .         .         .         .         .75 

V.  JANE  BROWN,      .......       79 

SARAH   WILSON, 106 

VI.  MARY  MOORE,     .         .         .        .         .         .        .110 

MRS.  DENIS, Ill 

MRS.  CLENDENIN,         .  .        .         .         .112 

MRS.  CUNNINGHAM, 113 

MRS.  SCOTT,         .         .         .         .        »        .        .     115 

MRS.  GLASS,         .  118 

VII.  ANN  HAYNES, .145 

VIII.  RUTH  SPARKS,     ....        ...    153 


X  CONTENTS. 

Page 
IX.  SARAH  SHELBY,  ...  ...     162 

X.  REBECCA  WILLIAMS,    , 1*71 

LOUISA  ST.  CLAIB,       .         .  ,         .         .178 

MRS.  LAKE,          .         .         .        .         .         .         .185 

SALLY  WARTH,    .         .         .  .         .         .191 

JANE  DICK,          ....  .  193 

MARY  HECKEWELDER, .193 

RUHAMA  GREENE, 196 

XI.  REBECCA  ROUSE, 199 

XII.  SARAH  SIBLEY, 225 

XIII.  MARY  DUNLEVY, 226 

XIV.  ANN  BAILEY, 245 

XV.  ELIZABETH  HARPER, 254 

SARAH  THORP,    .         .         .         ....     266 

MRS.  WALWORTH, 271 

MRS.  CARTER, 272 

XVI.  ELIZABETH  TAPPEN,     .         .         .         .         .         .274 

XVII.  REBECCA  HEALD,    " '281 

MRS.  HELM, 302 

MRS.  SNOW, 303 

MRS.  LEMEN,  MRS.  EDWARDS,       .         .         .         .304 

XVIII.  ABIGAIL  SNELLING,      .         .         .         .         .         .305 

XIX.  MARY  McMiLLAN, 338 

XX.  CHARLOTTE  A.  CLARK,         .....     350 

CHARLOTTE  GEER,        .         .         .         .         .         .357 

•MRS.  CLARK,       ....         .        .         .359 

XXI.  SARAH  BRYAN,    . 361 

SYLVIA  CHAPIN,  .         .        .        .        .        .        .367 

MRS.  ST.  JOHN,  MRS.  LOVEJOY,  .         .         .         .     368 


CONTFNT3.  XI 

Page 

LUCY  CHAPIN, .  370 

MRS.  ANDERSON,.       '.         .         .         .         .         .373 

ELIZA  BULL,  MRS.  HARAZTHY,  .  .  .  .374 

XXIL  MARY  ANN  RUMSEY, 376 

ANN  ALLEN, 382 

ELIZABETH  ALLEN, 382 

XXIII.  HARRIET  L.  NOBLE,  .  .  .  .  .  .388 

FRANCES  TRASK, 397 

MRS.  SCOTT,  MRS.  TALBOT,  MRS.  GOODRICH,  .  400 

MRS.  COMSTOCK,  . 401 

MRS.  WOODWARD, 402 

XXIV.  JOURNAL, 403 

XXY.  ELIZABETH  KENTON, 428 


THE  PIONEER  WOMEN  OF  THE  WEST. 


I 


MARY    BLEDSOE. 


"  Men's  due  deserts  each  reader  may  recite, 

For  men  of  men  do  make  a  goodly  show ; 
But  women's  works  can  seldom  come  to  light, 
No  mortal  man  their  famous  acts  may  know ; 
Few  writers  will  a  little  time  bestow, 
The  worthy  acts  of  women  to  repeat ; 
Though  their  renown  and  the  deserts  be  great." 


THE  poet's  complaint  might  be  made  with  peculiar  justice  in  the 
case  of  American  women  who  followed  the  earliest  adventurers  into 
the  unknown  forests  of  the.  West.  One  of  their  own  number  often 
said — "  A  good  Providence  sent  such  men  and  women  into  the 
world  together.  They  were  made  to  match."  Such  a  race  will 
probably  never  again  live  in  this  country.  The  progress  of  im- 
provement, art,  and  luxury,  has  a  tendency  to  change  the  female 
character,  so  that  even  a  return  of  the  perils  of  war,  or  the  neces- 
sity for  exertion,  would  hardly  develop  in  it  the  strength  which  be- 
longed to  the  matrons  who  nursed  the  infancy  of  the  Eepublic. 
They  were  formed  by  early  training  in  habits  of  energetic  industry, 
and  familiarity  with  privation  and  danger,  to  take  their  part  in  sub- 


14  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

duing  the  wilderness  for  the  advance  of  civilization.  Though  their 
descendants  cannot  emulate  their  heroic  deeds,  it  will  be  a  pleasing 
task  to  call  up  recollections  of  them ;  to  observe  their  patient  endur- 
ance of  hardship,  and  to  compare  their  homely  but  honest  exterior 
with  the  accomphshment  and  graces  of  the  sex  in  modern  days. 

A  large  portion  of  the  history  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  West 
has  never  been  recorded  in  any  published  work.  It  is  full  of  per- 
sonal adventure,  and  no  power  of  imagination  could  create  materials 
more  replete  with  romantic  interest  than  their  simple  experience 
afforded.  The  training  of  those  hardy  pioneers  in  their  frontier 
life  ;  the  daring  with  which  they  penetrated  the  vrilderness,  plunging 
into  trackless  forests,  and  encountering  the  savage  tribes,  whose  hunt- 
ing grounds  they  had  invaded,  and  the  sturdy  perseverance  with 
which  they  overcame  all  difficulties,  compel  our  wondering  admira- 
tion. It  has  been  truly  said  of  them,  "  The  greater  part  of  man- 
kind might  derive  advantage  from  the  contemplation  of  their  hum- 
ble virtues,  hospitable  homes,  and  spirits  patient,  noble,  proud,  and 
free ;  their  self-respect,  grafted  on  innocent  thoughts  ;  their  days  of 
health  and  nights  of  sleep;  their  toils  by  danger  dignified,  yet 
guiltless ;  their  hopes  of  a  cheerful  old  age  and  a  quiet  grave." 

But  less  attention  has  been  given  to  their  exploits  and  sufferings 
than  they  deserve,  because  the  accounts  read  are  too  vague  and 
general ;  the  picture  not  being  brought  near,  nor  exhibited  with 
lifelike  proportions  and  coloring.  A  collection  of  memoirs  of  women 
must  of  necessity  include  some  reliable  account  of  the  domestic  and 
daily  life  of  those  heroic  adventurers,  and  may  perhaps  supply  the 
deficiency.  Commencing  with  the  first  colonists  of  Tennessee,  which 
claims  priority  of  settlement,  we  light  upon  a  name  associated  with 
its  early  annals,  and  distinguished  among  pioneers — that  of  Bledsoe. 
But  before  entering  on  a  sketch  of  this  family,  a  brief  view  may  be 
given  of  the  general  sta4e  of  the  country. 

Until  the  year  1700,  the  territory  of  North  Carolina  and  Ten- 
nessee, and  an  indefinite  region  extending  south-west  and  north-west, 
in  the  language  of  the  royal  British  charters,  to  the  South  Seas,  was 
known  as  "  our  county  of  Albemarle,  in  Carolina."  Even  as  late  as 


MARY   BLEDSOE.  15 

1750,  the  country  lying  west  of  the  Apalachian  mountains  was 
wholly  unknown  to  the  people  of  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia. 
When,  a  few  years  later,  the  British  army  under  Braddock  crossed 
the  mountains  from  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  and  marched  to 
Fort  Du  Quesne,  that  march  was  described  by  the  writers  of  the 
times  as  an  advance  into  the  deep  recesses  and  fastnesses  of  a 
savage  wilderness.  At  that  time  the  French  owned  all  the  Canadas, 
the  valley  of  the  Ohio  and  all  its  tributaries,  and  claimed  the  rest 
of  the  continent  to  the  confines  of  Mexico,  westward  from  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  rivers.  The  old  French  maps  of  that  period,  and  the 
journals  and  letters  of  French  traders  and  hunters,  together  with  the 
traditions  of  the  Indians,  afford  the  only  reliable  information  in  rela- 
tion to  the  then  condition  of  the  country  now  composing  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  In  the  French  maps  of  those  times,  the  Kentucky,  Hol- 
ston,  Tennessee,  and  Ohio  are  laid  down.  The  Kentucky  is 
called  Cataway,  the  Holston  the  Cherokee,  and  the  Little  Tennes- 
see the  Tanasees.  This  river,  after  the  junction  of  the  Holston  and 
Tennessee,  is  called  Ho-go-hegee,  and  the  only  Indian  town  marked 
on  its  banks  is  at  the  mouth  of  Bear  Creek,  near  the  north-west 
corner  of  Alabama.  There  were  forts  which  were  little  more  than 
trading  posts,  at  several  points  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi ;  Fort 
Du  Quesne,  where  Pittsburg  now  stands,  and  one  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Kenhawa  river ;  another  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky,  and 
Fort  Vincennes,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Oubach,  or  Wabash ;  Fort 
Massac,  half  way  between  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Tennes- 
see, on  the  Illinois  side,  and  another  on  the  Tennessee,  twelve  miles 
above  its  mouth.  They  also  Jiad  a  fort  where  Memphis  now  stands, 
called  Prud'homme ;  another .  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  called 
Ackensa ;  another  near  Natchez,  and  one  at  the  junction  of  the 
Coosa  and  Tallapoosa,  called  Halabamas.  South  of  these  last  forts, 
the  Spaniards  had  possession  in  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  Texas.  The 
greater  part  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Western  Virginia,  was 
represented  on  these  maps  as  wholly  uninhabited.  Certain  it  is  that 
not  more  than  a  dozen  years  afterwards,  when  the  pioneers  of  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky  first  explored  that  region,  they  found  the 


16  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

baoks  of  the  Watauga,  Cumberland,  and  Kentucky,  with  their 
tributaries,  in  this  state.  It  was  all  one  vast  wilderness,  into 
which  hunting  parties  of  Indians  from  its  distant  borders  entered 
and  roamed  in  pursuit  of  game,  but  in  which  they  made  no  perma- 
nent lodgment.  Numerous  warlike  nations  lived  south,  west,  and 
north  of  this  wilderness,  and  hither  it  was  that  the  lion-hearted 
pioneers  of  the  Cumberland  and  Watauga  came,  with  axe  and  rifle, 
to  subdue  at  once  the  savage  and  the  forest. 

In  1758,  Col.  Bird,  of  the  British  army,  established  Fort  Chissel 
in  Wyth  county,  Virginia,  to  protect  the  frontiers,  and,  advancing 
into  what  is  now  Sullivan  county,  Tennessee,  built  a  fort  near  Long 
[sland,  on  the  Holston  or  Watauga.  There  was  not  then  a  single 
white  man  living  in  the  borders  of  Tennessee.  The  year  before, 
Governor  Dobbs  of  North  Carolina  had,  at  the  request  of  the 
Cherokee  Indians,  built  Fort  Lowdon,  and  the  Indians  agreed  to 
make  grants  of  land  to  all  artisans  who  would  settle  among  them. 
Fort  Lowdon  was  on  the  Little  Tennessee,  near  the  mouth  of  Tel- 
Hco  river,  in  the  centre  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred miles  south  of  the  fort  at  Long  Island.  Between  these  forts 
were  the  first  settlements,  which  struggled  for  several  years  against 
the  fearful  ravages  of  Indian  wars,  before  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution. 

At  irregular  intervals  from  1*765  to  1769,  came  pioneer  parties 
from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  forming  "  camps,"  "  settlements," 
and  "  stations."  Some  of  the  earliest  emigrants  were  from  Raleigh 
and  Salisbury,  and  settled  upon  the  Watauga.  The  first  settlement 
attempted  on  the  spot  where  Nashville  now  stands,  is  said  to  havo 
been  in  1778,  the  "  French  Lick,"  as  the  locality  was  named,  having 
been  discovered,  according  to  Hay  wood,  in  1769  or  17  70,  by  a 
party  of  adventurers,  who  were  descending  the  Cumberland  on  their 
way  to  Natchez,  to  dispose  of  articles  which  they  had,  and  purchase 
others  which  they  wanted.  They  saw  an  immense  number  of  buf- 
faloes and  wild  game.  The  lick  and  adjoining  lands  were  crowded 
with  them,  and  their  bellowing  resounded  from  the  hills  and  forest. 
The  place  had  previously  been  visited  by  French  hunters  and  trap- 


MARY    BLEDSOE.  17 

pcrs  from  the  north.  The  surrounding  hills  were  then  covered  with 
cedars,  whose  foliage  deeply  shaded  the  rocky  soil  from  which  they 
sprung,  and  there  was  no  appearance  of  former  cultivation.  No 
prospect  spread  before  the  eye  but  woods  and  cane,  inhabited  by 
buffaloes,  elks,  wolves,  foxes,  and  other  wild  animals.  Not  deterred 
by  the  neighborhood  of  these,  or  fiercer  savages,  the  new  comers 
here  erected  cabins,  constructed  a  stockade  fort,  and  maintained 
possession  against  several  attacks  by  the  Indians. 

Two  brothers  of  the  name  of  Bledsoe — Englishmen  by  birth, — 
were  living  in  1769  at  Fort  Chissel,  then  upon  the  extreme  border 
of  civilization.  It  was  not  long  before  they  removed  further  into 
the  wild,  and  they  were  among  the  earliest  pioneers  in  the  valley  of 
the  Holston.  This  portion  of  country,  now  Sullivan  county,  was  at 
that  time  supposed  to  be  within  the  limits  of  Virginia.  The  Bled- 
soes,  with  the  Shelbys,  settled  themselves  about  twelve  miles  above 
the  Island  Flats.  The  beauty  of  that  mountainous  region  attracted 
others,  who,  impelled  by  the  same  spirit  of  adventure  and  pride  in 
being  the  first  to  explore  the  wilderness,  came  to  join  them  in  estab- 
lishing the  colony.  They  cheerfully  ventured  their  property  and 
lives,  and  endured  the  severest  privations  in  taking  possession  of 
their  new  homes,  influenced  by  the  love  of  independence  and 
equality.  The  most  dearly  prized  rights  of  man  had  been  threat- 
ened in  the  oppressive  system  adopted  by  Great  Britain  towards  her 
colonies  ;  her  agents  and  the  colonial  magistrates  manifested  all  the 
insolence  of  authority  ;  and  individuals  who  had  suffered  from 
their  aggressions  bethought  themselves  of  a  country  beyond  the 
mountains,  in  the  midst  of  primeval  forests,  where  no  laws  existed 
save  the  law  of  nature — no  magistrate,  except  those  selected  by 
themselves ;  where  full  liberty  of  conscience,  of  speech,  and  of 
action  prevailed.  Yet  almost  in  the  first  year  they  formed  a  written 
code  of  regulations  by  which  they  agreed  to  be  governed  ;  each 
man  signing  his  name  thereto.  These  settlements  formed  by  par- 
ties of  emigrants  from  neighboring  provinces  were  not,  in  their  con- 
stitution, unlike  those  of  New  Haven  and  Hartford  ;  but  among 
them  was  no  godly  Hooker,  no  learned  and  heavenly-minded 


18  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE  WEST. 

Haynes.  As,  however,  from  the  first  they  were  exposed  to  the 
continual  depredations  and  assaults  of  their  savage  neighbors,  who 
looked  with  jealous  eyes  upon  the  approach  of  the  white  men,  it 
was  perhaps  well  that  there  were  among  them  few  men  of  letters. 
The  rifle  and  the  axe,  their  only  weapons  of  civilization,  suited  better 
the  perils  they  encountered  from  the  fierce  and  marauding  Shaw- 
nees,  Chickamangas,  Creeks,  and  Cherokees,  than  would  the  bro- 
therly address  of  William  Penn,  or  the  pious  discourses  of  Roger 
Williams. 

During  the  first  year,  not  more  than  fifty  families  had  crossed  the 
mountains ;  but  others  came  with  each  revolving  season  to  reinforce 
the  little  settlement,  until  its  population  swelled  to  hundreds.  Dur- 
ing the  Revolutionary  struggle,  that  region  became  the  refuge  of 
many  patriots  driven  by  British  invasion  from  Virginia,  the  Caro- 
linas,  and  Georgia,  some  of  the  best  families  seeking  homes  there. 
Patriotic  republicans  who  had  sacrificed  everything  for  their  country, 
hoped  to  find  in  the  secluded  vales  and  thick  forests  of  the  West 
that  peace  and  quiet  which  they  had  not  found  amidst  the  din  of 
civil  and  foreign  war.  But  they  soon  experienced  the  horrors  of 
savage  warfare,  which  swept  away  their  property,  and  often  robbed 
them  of  their  wives  and  children,  either  by  a  barbarous  death  or 
slavery  as  captives  dragged  into  the  wild  recesses  of  the  Indian  bor- 
ders. They  took  up  their  residence,  for  mutual  aid  and  protection, 
in  clusters  around  different  stations,  within  a  short  distance  of  one 
another,  and  many  lived  in  the  forts.  Notwithstanding  the  frequent 
and  terrible  inroads  upon  their  numbers,  they  increased  to  thousands 
within  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

Not  long  after  the  Bledsoes  established  themselves  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Holston,  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe,  who  was  an  excellent 
surveyor,  was  appointed  clerk  to  the  commissioners  who  ran  the 
line  dividing  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  Bledsoe  had  before 
this  ascertained  that  Sullivan  County  was  comprised  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  latter  province.  In  June,  1776,  he  was  chosen 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  county  to  the  command  of  the  militia. 
The  office  imposed  on  him  the  dangerous  duty  of  repelling  the 


MAKY    BLEDSOE.  19 

i 

savages  and  defending  the  frontier.  He  had  often  to  call  out  the 
militia  and  lead  them  to  meet  their  Indian  assailants,  whom  they 
would  pursue  to  their  villages  through  the  recesses  of  the  forest. 
In  this  month  more  than  seven  hundred  Indian  warriors  advanced 
upon  the  settlements  on  the  Holston,  with  the  avowed  object  of  ex- 
terminating the  white  race  through  all  their  borders.  The  battle  of 
Long  Island,"  fought  a  few  miles  below  Bledsoe's  station,  near  the 
Island  Flats,  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  hardest  fought  battles 
known  in  the  traditionary  history  of  Tennessee.  Col.  Bledsoe,  at 
the  head  of  the  militia,  marched  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  in  the 
conflict  which  ensued  was  completely  victorious  ;  the  Indians  being 
routed,  and  leaving  forty  dead  upon  the  field.  This  disastrous  de- 
feat for  a  time  held  them  in  check ;  but  the  spirit  of  savage  hostility 
was  invincible,  and  in  the  years  following  there  was*  a  constant  suc- 
cession of  Indian  troubles,  in  which.  Col.  Bledsoe  was  conspicuous  for 
his  bravery  and  services. 

In  1779,  Sullivan  County  having  been  recognized  as  a  part  of 
North  Carolina,  Governor  Caswell  appointed  Anthony  Bledsoe  colo- 
nel, and  Isaac  Shelby  lieutenant-colonel,  of  its  military  company. 
About  the  beginning  of  July  of  the  following  year,  General  Charles 
McDowell,  who  commanded  a  district  east  of  the  mountains,  sent  to 
Bledsoe  a  dispatch,  giving  him  an  account  of  the  condition  of  the 
country.  The  surrender  of  Charleston  had  brought  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  under  British  power;  the  people  had  been  sum- 
moned to  return  to  their  allegiance,  and  resistance  was  ventured 
only  by  a  few  resolute  spirits,  determined  to  brave  death  rather  than 
submit  to  the  invader.  The  whigs  had  fled  into  North  Carolina, 
whence  they  returned  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  oppose  the  ene- 
my. Colonels  Tarleton  and  Ferguson  had  advanced  towards  North 
Carolina  at  the  head  of  their  soldiery ;  and  McDowell  ordered  Col. 
Bledsoe  to  rally  the  militia  of  his  county,  and  come  forward  in 
readiness  to  assist  in  repelling  the  invader's  approach.  Similar  dis- 
patches were  sent  to  Col.  Sevier  and  other  officers,  and  the  patriots 
were  not  slow  in  obeying  the  summons. 

While  the  British  Colonel  Ferguson,  under  the  ordeijB  of  Corn- 


20  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

wallis,  was  sweeping  the  country  near  the  frontier,  gathering  the 
loyalists  under  his  standard  and  driving  back  the  whigs,  against 
whom  fortune  seemed  to  have  decided,  a  resolute  band  was  assem- 
bled for  their  succor  far  up  among  the  mountains.  From  a  popula- 
tion of  five  or  six  thousand,  not  more  than  twelve  hundred  of  them 
fighting  men,  a  body  of  near  five  hundred  mountaineers,  armed  with 
rifles  and  clad  in  leathern  hunting-shirts,  was  gathered.  The  anger 
of  these  sons  of  liberty  had  been  stirred  up  by  an  insolent  message 
received  from  Col.  Ferguson,  that  "  if  they  did  not  instantly  lay 
down  their  arms,  he  would  come  over  the  mountains  and  whip  their 
republicanism  out  of  them  ;"  and  they  were  eager  for  an  opportunity 
of  showing  what  regard  they  paid  to  his  threats. 

At  this  juncture,  Col.  Isaac  Shelby  returned  from  Kentucky,  where 
he  had  been  surveying  land  for  the  great  company  of  land  specula- 
tors headed  by  Henderson,  Hart,  and  others.  The  young  officer 
was  betrothed  to  Miss  Susan  Hart,  a  belle  celebrated  among  the 
western  settlements  at  that  period,  and  it  was  shrewdly  suspected 
that  his  sudden  return  from  the  wilds  of  Kentucky  was  to  be  attri- 
buted to  the  attractions  of  that  young  lady ;  notwithstanding  that 
due  credit  is  given  to  the  patriot,  in  recent  biographical  sketches,  for 
an  ardent  wish  to  aid  his  countrymen  in  their  struggle  for  liberty 
by  his  active  services  at  the  scene  of  conflict.  On  his  arrival  at 
Bledsoe's,  it  was  a  matter  of  choice  with  the  colonel  whether  he 
should  himself  go  forth  and  march  at  the  head  of  the  advancing 
army  of  volunteers,  or  yield  the  command  to  Shelby.  It  was 
necessary  for  one  to  remain  behind,  for  the  danger  to  the  defenceless 
inhabitants  of  the  country  was  even  greater  from  the  Indians  than 
the  British  ;  and  it  was  obvious  that  the  ruthless  savage  would  take 
immediate  advantage  of  the  departure  of  a  large  body  of  fighting 
men,  to  fall  upon  the  enfeebled  frontier.  Shelby  on  his  part  insisted 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  Bledsoe,  whose  family,  relatives,  and  defence- 
less neighbors  looked  to  him  for  protection,  to  stay  with  the  troops 
at  home  for  the  purpose  of  repelling  the  expected  Indian  assault. 
For  himself,  he  urged,  he  had  no  family  to  guard,  or  who  might 
mourn  his  loss,  and  it  was  better  that  he  should  advance  with  the 


MAEY    BLEDSOE.  21 

troops  to  join  McDowell.  No  one  could  tell  where  might  be  the 
post  of  danger  and  honor,  at  home  or  on  the  other  side  of  the 
mountains.  The  arguments  he  used  no  doubt  corresponded  with  his 
friend's  own  convictions,  his  sense  of  duty  to  his  family,  and  of  true 
regard  to  the  welfare  of  his  country  ;  and  the  deliberation  resulted 
in  his  relinquishment  of  the  command  to  his  junior  officer.  It  was 
thus  that  the  conscientious,  though  not  ambitious  patriot,  lost  the 
honor  of  commanding  in  one  of  the  most  distinguished  actions  of 
the  Revolutionary  war. 

Col.  Shelby  took  the  command  of  those  gallant  mountaineers  who 
encountered  the  forces  of  Ferguson  at  King's  Mountain  on  the  7th 
October,  1780.  Three  days  after  that  splendid  victory,  Bledsoe  re- 
ceived from  him  an  official  dispatch  giving  an  account  of  the  battle. 
The  daughter  of  Col.  Bledsoe  well  remembered  having  heard  this  dis- 
patch read  by  her  father,  though  it  has  probably  long  since  shared 
the  fate  of  other  valuable  family  papers. 

When  the  hero  of  King's  Mountain,  wearing  the  victor's  wreath, 
returned  to  his  friends,  he  found  that  his  betrothed  had  departed 
with  her  father  for  Kentucky,  leaving  for  him  no  request  to  follow, 
Sarah,  the  above  mentioned  daughter  of  Col.  Bledsoe,  often  rallied 
the  young  officer,  who  spent  considerable  time  at  her  father's,  upon 
this  cruel  desertion.  He  would  reply  by  expressing  much  indigna- 
tion at  the  treatment  he  had  received  at  the  hands  of  the  fair 
coquette,  and  protesting  that  he  would  not  follow  her  to  Kentucky, 
nor  ask  her  of  her  father  ;  he  would  wait  for  little  Sarah  Bledsoe,  a 
far  prettier  bird,  he  would  aver,  than  the  one  that  had  flown  away. 
The  maiden,  then  some  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age,  would  laugh- 
ingly return  his  bantering  by  saying  he  "  had  better  wait,  indeed, 
and  see  if  he  could  win  Miss  Bledsoe  who  could  not  win  Miss  Hart.'' 
The  arch  damsel  was  not  wholly  in  jest ;  for  a  youthful  kinsman  ol 
the  colonel — David  Shelby,  a  lad  of  seventeen  or  eighteen,  who  had 
fought  by  his  side  at  King's  Mountain — had  already  gained  her 
youthful  affections.  She  remained  true  to  this  early  love,  though 
her  lover  was  only  a  private  soldier.  And  it  may  be  well  to  record 
that  the  gallant  colonel,  who  thus  threatened  infidelity  to  his,  did 


22  PIONEEK   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

actually,  notwithstanding  his  protestations,  go  to  Kentucky  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Susan  Hart,  who  made  him  a 
faithful  and  excellent  wife. 

During  the  whole  of  the  trying  period  that  intervened  between 
the  first  settlement  of  east  Tennessee  and  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle,  Col.  Bledsoe,  with  his  brother  and  kinsmen,  was 
almost  incessantly  engaged  in  the  strife  with  their  Indian  foes,  as 
well  as  in  the  laborious  enterprise  of  subduing  the  forest,  and  con- 
verting the  tangled  wilds  into  the  husbandman's  fields  of  plenty.  In 
these  varied  scenes  of  trouble  and  trial,  of  toil  and  danger,  the  men 
were  aided  and  encouraged  by  the  women.  Mary  Bledsoe,  the 
colonel's  wife,  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  energy,  and  noted  for  her 
independence  both  of  thought  and  action.  She  never  hesitated  to 
expose  herself  to  danger  whenever  she  thought  it  her  duty  to  brave 
it ;  and  when  Indian  hostilities  were  most  fierce,  when  their  homes 
were  frequently  invaded  by  the  murderous  savage,  and  females 
struck  down  by  the  tomahawk  or  carried  into  captivity,  she  was 
foremost  in  urging  her  husband  and  friends  to  go  forth  and  meet  the 
foe,  instead  of  striving  to  detain  them  for  the  protection  of  her  own 
household.  During  this  time  of  peril  and  watchfulness,  little  atten- 
tion could  have  been  given  to  books,  even  had  the  pioneers  possessed 
them  ;  but  the  Bible,  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  a  few  such  works 
as  Baxter's  Call,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  etc.,  were  generally  to 
be  found  in  the  library  of  every  resident  on  the  frontier. 

About  the  close  of  the  year  1779,  Col.  Bledsoe  and  his  brothers, 
with  a  few  friends,  crossed  the  Cumberland  mountains,  descended 
into  the  valley  of  Cumberland  River,  and  explored  the  beautiful 
region  on  its  banks.  Delighted  with  its  shady  woods,  its  herds  of 
buffaloes,  its  rich  and  genial  soil,  and  its  salubrious  climate,  their  re- 
port on  their  return  induced  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  East  Ten- 
nessee to  resolve  on  seeking  a  new  ^ome  in  the  Cumberland  Valley. 
The  Bledsoes  did  not  remove  their  families  thither  until  three  years 
afterwards ;  but  the  idea  of  settling  the  valley  originated  with  them ; 
they  were  the  first  to  explore 'it,  and  it  was  in  consequence  of  their 
report  and  advice  that  the  expedition  was  fitted  out,  under  the  direc- 


MARY   BLEDSOE.  23 

tion  of  Captain  (afterwards  General)  Robertson  and  Col.  John  Don- 
aldson, to  establish  the  earliest -colony  in  that  part  of  the  country.* 

The  daughter  of  Col.  Bledsoe  has  in  her  possession  letters  that 
passed  between  her  father  and  J&en.  Robertson,  in  which  repeated 
allusions  are  made,  to  the  fact  that  to  his  suggestions  and  counsel  was 
owing  the  first  thought  of  emigration  to  the  valley.  In  1784,  An- 
thony Bledsoe  removed  with  his  family  to  the  new  settlement  of 
which  he  had  thus  been  one  of  the  founders.  His  brother,  Col. 
Isaac  Bledsoe,  had  gone  the  year  before.  They  took  up  their  resi- 
dence in  what  is  now  Sumner  County,  and  established  a  fort  or  sta- 
tion at  "  Bledsoe's  Lick " — now  known  as  the  .Castalian  Springs. 
The  families  being  .thus  united,  and  the  eldest  daughter  of  Anthony 
married  to  David  Shelby,  the  station  became  a  rallying  point  for  an 
extensive  district  surrounding  it.  The  Bledsoes  were  used  to  fight- 
ing with  the  Indians ;  they  were  men  of  well  known  energy  and 
courage,  and  their  fort  was  the  place  to  which  the  settlers  looked  for 
protection — the  colonels  being  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  the 
pioneers  in  their  neighborhood,  and  the  terror,  far  and  near,  of  the 
savage  marauders.  Anthony  was  also  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  Legislature  from  Sumner  County. 

From  1780  to  1795,  a  continual  warfare  was  kept  up  by  the 
Creeks  and  Cherokees  against  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley.  The 
history  of  this  time  would  be  a  fearful  record  of  scenes  of  bloody 
strife  and  atrocious  barbarity.  Several  hundred  persons  fell  victims 
to  the  ruthless  foe,  who  spared  neither  age  nor  sex ;  and  many  women 
and  children  were  carried  far  from  their  friends  into  hopeless  captivity. 
The  settlers  were  frequently  robbed  and  their  negro  slaves  taken 
away  ;  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  two  thousand  holies  were  stolen ; 
their  cattle  and  hogs  were  destroyed,  their  houses  and  barns  burned, 
and  their  plantations  laid  waste.  In  consequence  of  these  incursions, 
many  of  the  inhabitants  gathered  together  at  the  stations  on  the 
frontier,  and  established  themselves  under  military  rule  for  the  pro- 

*  For  an  account  of  this  expedition,  and  the  planting  of  the  settlement, 
see  the  memoir  of  Sarah  Buchanan, —  Women  of  the  American  Revolution. 
Vol.  iii.  p.  310. 


24  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

tection  of  the  interior  settlements.  During  this  desperate  period,  the 
pursuits  of  the  farmer  could  not  be  abandoned ;  lands  were  to  be 
surveyed  and  marked,  and  fields  cleared  and  cultivated,  by  men  who 
could  not  venture  beyond  their  own  doors  without  arms  in  their 
hands.  The  labors  of  those  active  and  vigilant  leaders,  the  Bledsoes, 
in  supporting  and  defending  the  colony,  were  indefatigable.  Nor 
was  the  heroic  matron — the  subject  of  this  sketch — less  active  in 
her  appropriate  sphere  of  action.  Her  family  consisted  of  seven 
daughters  and  five  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Sarah  Shelby,  was  not 
more  than  eighteen  when  they  came  to  Sumner.  Mrs.  Bledsoe  was 
almost  the  only  instructor  of  these  children,  the  family  being  left  to 
her  sole  charge  while  her  husband  was  engaged  in  his  toilsome 
duties,  or  harassed  with  the  cares  incident  to  an  uninterrupted  border 
warfare. 

Too  soon  was  this  devoted  wife  and  mother  called  upon  to  suffer 
a  far  deeper  calamity  than  any  she  had  yet  experienced.  Anthony 
Bledsoe  had  removed  his  family  into  his  brother  Isaac's  fort  at  Bled- 
soe's  Lick.  On  the  night  of  the  20th  of-  July,  1788,  a  number  of 
Indians  approached,  and  placed  themselves  in  ambush  about  forty 
yards  in  front  of  a  passage  dividing  the  log  houses  occupied  by  the 
two  families.  To  draw  the  men  out,  they  then  sent  some  of  their 
party  to  cause  an  alarm  by  riding  rapidly  through  a  lane  passing 
near.  Roused  by  the  noise,  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe  rose  and  went  to 
the  gate.  As  he  opened  it,  he  was  shot  down,  the  same  shot  killing 
an  Irish  servant,  named  Campbell,  who  had  been  long  devotedly 
attached  to  him.  The  colonel  did  not  expire  immediately,  but  was 
carried  back  into  the  house,  while  preparations  were  made  for 
defence  by  Gen.  William  Hall,  and  the  portholes  manned  till  break 
of  day.  The  wife  of  Isaac  Bledsoe  suggested  to  her  husband,  and 
afterwards  to  her  brother-in-law,  in  view  of  the  near  approach  of 
death,  that  it  was  proper  to  make  provision  for  his  daughters.  He 
had  surveyed  large  tracts  of  land,  and  had  secured  grants  for  seve- 
ral thousand  acres,  which  constituted  nearly  his  whole  property. 
The  law  of  North  Carolina  at  that  time  gave  all  the  lands  to  the 
sons,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  daughters.  In  consequence,  should 


MARY   BLEDSOE.  25 

the  colonel  die  without^a  will,  his  seven  young  daughters  would  be 
left  destitute.  In  this  hour  of  bitter  trial,  Mrs.  Bledsoe's  thoughts 
too  were  not  alone  of  her  own  sufferings,  and  the  deadly  peril  that 
hung  over  them,  but  of  the  provision  necessary  for  the  helpless  ones  , 
dependent  on  her  care.  Writing  materials  were  procured,  and  hav- 
ing called  Clendening  to  draw  up  the  will,  he  being  too  much  agi- 
tated to  write,  Isaac  Bledsoe  supported  his  dying  brother  while 
affixing  his  signature.  Thus  a  portion  of  land  was  assigned  to  each 
of  the  daughters,  who  in  after  life  had  reason  to  remember  with 
gratitude  the  presence  of  mind  and  affectionate  care  of  their  aunt. 

Mrs.  Bledsoe's  sufferings  from  Indian  hostility  were  not  termi- 
nated by  this  overwhelming  stroke.  A  brief  list  of  those  who  fell 
victims,  among  her  family  and  kinsmen,  may  afford  some  idea  of 
the  trials  she  endured,  and  of  the  strength  of  character  which  ena- 
bled her  to  bear  up,  and  to  support  others,  under  such  terrible 
experiences.  In  January,  1793,  her  son  Anthony,  then  seventeen 
years  of  age,  w^ile  passing  near  the 'present  site  of  Nashville,  was 
shot  through  the  body,  and  severely  wounded,  by  a  party  of  Indians 
in  ambush.  He  was  pursued  to  the  gates  of  a  neighboring  fort. 
Not  a  month  afterwards,  her  eldest  son,  Thomas,  was  also  despe- 
rately wounded  by  the  savages,  and  escaped  with  difficulty  from  their 
hands.  Early  in  the  following  April,  he  was  shot  dead  near  his 
mother's  house,  and  scalped  by  the  murderous  Indians.  On  the 
same  day,  Col.  Isaac  Bledsoe  was  killed  and  scalped  by  a  party  of 
about  twenty  Creek  Indians,  who  beset  him  in  the  field,  and  cut  off 
his  retreat  to  his  station  near  at  hand. 

In  April,  1794,  Anthony,  the  son  of  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  and  his  cousin 
of  the  same  name,  were  shot  by  a  party  of  Indians,  near  the  house 
of  Gen.  Smith,  on  Drake  Creek,  ten  miles  from  Gallatin.  The  lads 
were  going  to  school,  and  were  then  on  their  way  to  visit  Mrs.  Sarah 
Shelby,  the  sister  of  Anthony,  who  lived  on  Station  Camp  Creek. 

Some  time  afterwards,  Mrs.  Bledsoe  was  on  the  road  from  Bled- 
soe's Lick  to  the  above  mentioned  station,  where  the  court  of  Sum- 
ner  County  was  at  that  time  held.  Her  object  was  to  attend  to 
some  business  connected  with  the  estate  of  her  late  husband.  She 


26  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

was  escorted  on  her  way  by  the  celebrated  Thomas  Sharp  Spencer, 
and  Robert  Jones.  The  party  was  waylaid  and  fired  upon  by  a  large 
body  of  Indians.  Jones  was  severely  wounded,  and  turning,  rode 
rapidly  back  for  about  two  miles  ;  after  which,  he  fell  dead  from  his 
horse.  The  savages  advanced  boldly  upon  the  others,  intending  to 
take  them  prisoners. 

It  was  not  consistent  with  Spencer's  chivalrous  character  to  at- 
tempt to  save  himself  by  leaving  his  companion  to  the  mercy  of  the 
foe.  Bidding  her  retreat  as  fast  as  possible  and  encouraging  her  to 
keep  her  seat  firmly,  he  protected  her  by  following  more  slowly  in 
her  rear,  with  his  trusty  rifle  in  his  hand.  When  the  Indians  in 
pursuit  came  too  near,  he  would  raise  his  weapon,  as  if  to  fire ;  and 
as  he  was  known  to  be  an  excellent  marksman,  the  savages  were 
not  willing  to  encounter  him,  but  hastened  to  the  shelter  of  trees, 
while  he  continued  his  retreat.  In  this  manner  he  kept  them  at 
bay  for  some  miles,  not  firing  a  single  shot — for  he  knew  that  his 
threatening  had  more  effect — until  Mrs.  Bledsoe  reached  a  station. 
Her  life  and  his  own  were  on  this  occasion  saved  by  his  prudence 
and  presence  of  mind  ;  for  both  would  have  been  lost  had  he  yielded 
to  the  temptation  to  fire. 

This  Spencer — for  his  gallantry  and  reckless  daring  named  "  the 
Chevalier  Bayard  of  Cumberland  Valley," — was  famed  for  his  en- 
counters with  the  Indians,  by  whom  he  had  often  been  shot  at,  and 
wounded  on  more  than  one  occasion.  His  proportions  and  strength 
were  those  of  a  giant,  and  the  wonder-loving  people  were  accus- 
tomed to  tell  marvellous  stories  concerning  him.  It  was  said  that 
at  one  time,  being  .unarmed  when  attacked  by  Indians,  he  reached 
into  a  tree,  and  wrenching  off  a  hugh  bough  by  main  force,  drove 
back  his  assailants  with  it.  He  lived  for  some  years  alone  in  Cum- 
berland Valley — it  is  said  from  1776  to  1779— before  a  single 
white  man  had  taken  up  his  abode  there  ;  his  dwelling  being  a 
large  hollow  tree,  the  roots  of  which  still  remain  near  Bledsoe's 
Lick.  For  one  year — the  tradition  is — a  man  by  the  name  of  Holi- 
day shared  his  retreat ;  but  the  hollow  being  not  sufficiently  spacious 
to  accommodate  two  lodgers,  they  were  under  the  necessity  of  sepa- 


MAEY   BLEDSOE.  27 

rating,  and  Holiday  departed  to  seek  a  home  in  the  valley  of  the 
Kentucky  River.  But  one  difficulty  arose ;  those  dwellers  in  the 
primeval  forest  had  but  one  knife  between  them  !  What  was  to  be 
done  ?  for  a  knife  was  an  article  of  indispensable  necessity ;  it  be- 
longed to  Spencer,  and  it  would  have  been  madness  in  the  owner 
of  such  an  article  to  part  with  it.  He  resolved  to  accompany  Holi- 
day part  of  the  way  on  his  journey,  and  went  as  far  as  Big  Barren 
Kiver.  When  about  to  turn  back,  Spencer's  heart  relented ;  he 
broke  the  blade  of  his  knife  in  two,  gave  half  to  his  friend,  and  with 
a  light  heart  returned  to  his  hollow  tree.  Not  long  after  his  gallant 
rescue  of  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  he  was  killed  by  a  party  of  Indians,  on  the 
road  from  Nashville  to  Knoxville.  For  nearly  twenty  years  he  had 
been  exposed  to  every  variety  of  danger,  and  escaped  them  all ; 
but  his  hour  came  at  last,  and  the  dust  of  the  hermit  and  re- 
nowned warrior  of  Cumberland  Valley  now  reposes  on  "  Spencer's 
Hill,"  near  the  Crab  Orchard,  on  the  road  between  Nashville  and 
Knoxville. 

Bereaved  of  her  husband,  sons,  and  brother-in-law  by  the  mur- 
derous savages,  Mrs.  Bledsoe  was  obliged  alone  to  undertake,  not 
only  the  charge  of  her  husband's  estate,  but  the  care  of  the  children, 
and  their  education  and  settlement  in  life.  These  duties  were  dis- 
charged with  unwavering  energy  and  Christian  patience.  Her  reli- 
gion had  taught  her  fortitude  under  her  unexampled  distresses ;  and 
through  all  this  trying  period  of  her  life,  she  exhibited  a  decision 
and  firmness  of  character,  which  bespoke  no  ordinary  powers  of 
intellect.  Her  mind,  indeed,  was  of  masculine  strength,  and  she 
was  remarkable  for  independence  of  thought  and  opinion.  In  per- 
son she  was  attractive,  being  neither  tall  nor  large  until  advanced 
in  life.  Her  hair  was  brown,  her  eyes  gray,  and  her  complexion 
fair.  Her  useful  life  was  closed  in  the  autumn  of  1808.  The 
record  of  her  worth,  and  of  what  she  did  and  suffered,  may  win 
little  attention  from  the  careless  many,  who  regard  not  the  memory 
of  our  "  pilgrim  mothers  :"  but  the  recollection  of  her  gentle  vir- 
tues has  not  yet  faded  from  the  hearts  of  her  descendants ;  and 
those  to  whom  they  tell  the  story  of  her  life  will  acknowledge  her 


28  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

the  worthy  companion  of  those  noble  men  to  whom  belongs  the 
praise  of  having  originated  a  new  colony  and  built  up  a  goodly 
state  in  the  bosom  of  the  forest.  Their  patriotic  labors,  their  strug- 
gles with  the  surrounding  savages,  their  efforts  in  the  maintenance 
of  the  community  they  had  founded — sealed,  as  they  finally  were, 
with  their  own  blood,  and  the  blood  of  their  sons  and  relatives — 
will  never  be  forgotten  while  the  apprehension  of  what  is  noble, 
generous,  and  good  survives  in  the  hearts  of  their  countiymen. 


II 


CATHARINE    SEVIER. 

IN  one  of  the  pioneer  parties  from  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin,  in  North 
Carolina,  who  crossed  the  rugged  mountains  to  seek  new  homes  in 
the  valley  of  the  Watauga,  carne  Samuel  Sh^rrill,  with  his  family 
consisting  of  several  sons  and  two  daughters.  One  of  these  daugh- 
ters, Susan,  married  Col.  Taylor,  a  gentleman  of  considerable  dis- 
tinction ;  the  other,  Catharine,  became  the  second  wife  of  Gen. 
Sevier.  Mr.  SherrilFs  residence  was  finally  upon  the  ISTola  Chucka, 
and  known  as  the  Daisy  Fields.  He  was  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  a  hard- 
working man,  "  well  to  do  in  the  world"  for  an  emigrant  of  that  day, 
and  he  was  skilled. in  the  use  of  the  rifle,  so  that  it  was  said, 
"  Sherrill  can  make  as  much  out  of  the  grounds  and  the  woods  as 
any  other  man.  He  has  a  hand  and  eye  to  his  work ;  a  hand,  an 
eye,  and  an  ear  for  the  Indian  and  the  game." 

Buffalo,  deer,  and  wild  turkeys  came  around  the  tents  and  cabins 
of  those  first  emigrants.  A  providence  was  in  this  that  some  of 
them  recognized  with  thankfulness.  These  settlements  encroached 
upon  the  rights  and  hunting-grounds  of  the  natives  ;  and  although 
some  had  been  established  and  permitted,  to  remain  undisturbed  for 
several  years,  yet  when  Capt.  James  Robertson  arrived  from  Vir- 
ginia, in  1772,  with  a  large  party  of  emigrants,  and  selected  lands 


30  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

on  the  Watauga,  he  endeavored  to  secure  an  occupation  with  the 
approbation  of  the  Indians ;  therefore  he  effected  a  "  lease"  from 
the  Cherokees  of  all  the  lands  on  the  river  and  its  tributaries  for 
eight  years. 

Jacob  Brown,  with  his  family  and  friends,  arrived  from  North 
Carolina  about  the  same  time  with  the  Sherrills,  and  these  two 
families  became  connected  by  intermarriage  with  the  Seviers,  and 
ever  remained  faithful  to  each  other  through  all  the  hostile  and  civil 
commotions  of  subsequent  years.  The  family  of  Seviers  came  among 
the  very  earliest  emigrants  from  Virginia,  and  aided  in  the  erection 
of  the  first  fort  on  the  Watau£a.* 

C5 

With  few  exceptions,  these  emigrants  had  in  view  the  acquisition 
of  rich  lands  for  cultivation  and  inheritance.  Some  indeed  were 
there,  or  came,  who  were  absconding  debtors  or  refugees  from  jus- 
tice, and  from  this  class  were  the  tories  of  North  Carolina  mostly 
enlisted. 

The  spirit  of  the  hunter  and  pioneer  cannot  well  content  itself  in 
a  permanent  location,  especially  when  the  crack  of  a  neighbor's 
rifle,  or  the  blast  of  his  hunting-horn  may  be  heard  by  his  quick 
ear ;  therefore  did  these  advanced  guards  often  change  their  homes 
when  others  crowded  them  at  a  mile's  distance.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  these  advances  into  the  wilderness  could  only  be  made 
by  degrees,  step  by  step,  through  years  of  tedious  waiting  and  toil- 
some preparation.  And  thus,  though  they  had  a  lease  from  the 
Indians,  a  foothold  in  the  soil,  stations  of  defence,  and  evidently  had 
taken  a  bond  of  fate,  assuring  them  in  the  prospect  of  rich  inheri- 
tances for  their  children,  they  could  not  all  abide  while  the  great 
West  and  greater  Future  invited  onward.  Richer  lands,  larger 
herds  of  buffaloes,  more  deer,  and  withal  as  many  Indians  were  in 
the  distance,  upon  the  Cumberland  and  Kentucky  Rivers.  The 
emigrants  advanced,  and  they  took  no  steps  backwards.  In  a  few 

#  Valentine  Zavier  (the  original  family  name\  the  father  of  John  Sevier, 
was  a  descend  ant  from  an  ancient  family  in  France,  but  born  in  London; 
emigrated  to  America ;  settled  on  the  Shenandoah.  Va. ;  removed  thence  to 
Watauga,  N.  C. ;  and  finally  settled  on  the  Nola  Chucka.  at  Plum  Grove. 


CATHARINE  SEVIEK.  31 

rears  they  were  found  organizing  "  provisional  governments  upon 
'  the  dark  and  bloody  ground"  of  Kentucky,  and  at  the  Bluffs,  the 
site  of  the  beautiful  capital  of  Tennessee.  And  these  AVatauga  and 
Kola  Chucka  pioneers  were  the  leading  spirits  throughout. 

Lord  Dunmore,  in  fitting  out  the  expedition  against  the  Indian 
tribes,  which  ended  with  the  memorable  battle  of  Point  Pleasant, 
gave  John  Sevier  the  commission  of  captain. 

In  the  first  Cherokee  war  of  1776,  the  early  settlements  were  in 
great  danger  of  being  destroyed.  The  prowling  savages  picked  off 
the  emigrants  in  detail,  and  being  somewhat  successful  resolved  to 
attack  the  settlements  and  stations  at  different  points  on  the  same 
day — in  June,  1776.  But  they  were  so  defeated  in  the  battles  of 
Long  Island  and  at  the  Island  Flats,  on  the  Holston,  and  in  their 
attack  and  siege  of  the  Watauga  Fort,  that  a  happy  change  was 
wrought,  and  hopes  of  quiet  were  encouraged.  The  attack  on  the 
latter  station  was  conducted  by  an  experienced  Indian  chief,  Old 
Abraham,  of  the  Chilhowee  Mountain  region.  It  was  a  fierce  attack, 
but  the  fort  fortunately  held  within  it  two  of  the  most  resolute  men 
who  have  ever  touched  the  soil  of  Tennessee,  and  to  whom  East 
and  Middle  Tennessee  were  subsequently  more  indebted  than  to 
any  other  men  who  have  ever  lived — James  Robertson  and  John 
Sevier — they  having  then  no  higher  titles  than  captains.  Some 
thirty  men  were  under  their  command  or  direction. 

The  approach  of  the  Indians  had  been  stealthy,  and  the  first 
alarm  was  given  by  the  flight  and  screams  of  some  females,  who 
were  closely  pursued  by  the  savages  in  large  force.  One  of  the 
women  was  killed,  and  one  or  two  captured.  In  this  party  of 
females  was  Miss  Catharine  Sherrill,  daughter  of  Samuel  Sherrill, 
who  had  removed  into  the  fort  only  the  day  previous. 

Miss  Sherrill  was  already  somewhat  distinguished  for  nerve,  action, 
and  fleetness.  It  was  said  "  she  could  outrun  or  outleap  any 
woman ;  walk  more  erect,  and  ride  more  gracefully  and  skilfully 
than  any  other  female  in  all  the  mountains  round  about,  or  on  the 
continent  at  large."  Although  at  other  times  she  proved  herself  to 
know  no  fear,  and  could  remain  unmoved  when  danger  threatened, 


32  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST. 

yet  on  this  occasion  she  admits  that  she  did  run,  and  "  run  her 
best."  She  was  very  tall  and  erect,  and  her  whole  appearance  such 
as  to  attract  the  especial  notice  and  pursuit  of  the  Indians ;  and  as 
they  intercepted  the  direct  path  to  the  gate  of  the  fort,  she  made  a 
circuit  to  reach  the  enclosure  on  another  side,  resolved,  as  she  said, 
to  scale  the  walls  or  palisades.  In  this  effort,  some  person  within 
the  defences  attempted  to  aid,  but  his  foot  slipped,  or  the  object  on 
which  he  was  standing  gave  way,  and  both  fell  to  the  ground  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  enclosure.  The  savages  were  coming  with  all 
speed,  and  firing  and  shooting  arrows  repeatedly.  Indeed,  she  said, 
"  the  bullets  and  arrows  came  like  hail.  It  was  now — leap  the  wall 
or  die !  for  I  would  not  live  a  captive."  She  recovered  from  the 
fall,  and  in  a  moment  was  over  and  within  the  defences,  and  "  by 
the  side  of  one  in  uniform." 

This  was  none  other  than  Capt.  John  Sevier,  and  the  first  time 
she  ever  saw  him.  This  was  the  beginning  of  an  acquaintance  des- 
tined in  a  few  years  to  ripen  into  a  happy  union,  to  endure  in 
tl.  is  life  for  near  forty  years.  "  The  way  she  run  and  jumped  on 
that  occasion  was  often  the  subject  of  remark,  commendation,  and 
laughter."  In  after  life  she  looked  upon  this  introduction,  and  the 
manner  of  it,  as  a  providential  indication  of  their  adaptation  to  each 
other — that  they  wrere  destined  to  be  of  mutual  help  in  future  dan- 
gers, and  to  overcome  obstacles'  in  time  to  como.  And  she  always 
deemed  herself  safe  when  by  his  side.  Many  a  time  did  she  say  : 
"  I  could  gladly  undergo  that  peril  and  effort  again  to  fall  into  his 
arms,  and  feel  so  out  of  danger.  But  then,"  she  would  add,  "  it 
was  all  of  God's  good  providence."  Capt.  Sevier  was  then  a  mar- 
ried man,  his  wife  and  younger  children  not  having  yet  arrived  from 
Virginia.  His  wife's  name  was  Susan  Hawkins,  and  she  was  a 
native  of  Virginia,  where  she  died. 

In  1777,  Capt.  Sevier  received  a  commission  from  the  State  of 
North  Carolina,  and  was  thus  decidedly  enlisted  in  the  cause  of 
American  independence ;  and  not  long  after  this,  he  was  honored 
with  the  commission  of  colonel,  bearing  the  signature  of  George 
Washington,  In  1779,  his  wife  died,  leaving  him  ten  children. 


CATHAHINE  SEVIEE.  33 

Several  of  the  eldest  were  sons,  who  had  come  with  their  father  to 
gain  and  improve  a  home  in  the  wilderness.  They  were  trained  to 
arms  and  to  labor.  He  had  selected  land  on  the  Watauga  and 
Nola  Chucka,  his  chosen  residence  being  on  the  latter  stream,  and 
for  many  years  known  as  Plum  Grove.  In  the  year  1*780,  he  and 
Miss  Sherrill  were  married,  and  she  devoted  herself  earnestly  to  all 
the  duties  of  her  station,  and  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  times. 
It  may  well  be  supposed  that  females  spun,  wove,  and  made  up 
most  of  the  clothes  worn  by  these  backwoods  people.  Girls  were 
as  well  skilled  in  these  arts  as  were  the  boys  in  such  as  more  appro- 
priately belonged  to  their  sphere  and  strength. 

Not  long  after  the  marriage,  Col.  Sevier  was  called  to  the  duty 
of  raising  troops  to  meet  the  invasion  of  the  interior  of  North  Caro- 
lina, under  Tarleton,  Ferguson,  and  other  British  officers.  Prepara- 
tions were  hastily  made,  and  the  various  forces  assembled  which 
fought  the  important  battle  of  King's  Mountain.  Col.  Sevier  had 
three  sons  and  one  brother  in  that  engagement.  His  favorite 
brother,  Joseph,  was  killed,  and  one  son  wounded.  These  sons  were 
between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  twenty-one.  Boys  were  early 
taught  to  use  the  rifle  with  skill.  This  was  the  formidable  weapon 
in  pursuit  of  game,  and  in  all  the  Indian  wars. 

It  was  always  a  source  of  much  gratification  to  Mrs.  Sevier,  and 
one  of  which  she  fondly  boasted,  that  among  the  first  work  she  did 
after  her  marriage,  was  to  make  the  clothes  which  her  husband  and 
three  sons  wore  the  day  they  were  in  the  memorable  battle  of 
King's  Mountain.  And  she  would  say,  "  Had  his  ten  children  been 
sons,  and  large  enough  to  have  served  in  that  expedition,  I  could  have 
fitted  them  out."* 

In  the  course  of  years,  Mrs.  Sevier  became  the  mother  of  eight 
children,  three  sons  and  five  daughters ;  and  thus  Col.  Sevier  was 

*  The  private  orderly,  or  memorandum-book  of  Col.  De  Poister,  on  whorr 
the  command  devolved  after  Ferguson  was  killed  on  King's  Mountain,  and 
who  ordered  the  surrender,  was,  with  other  papers,  handed  to  Col.  Sevier 
This  book  was  presented  to  the  writer  of  this  memoir  by  Mrs.  Gen.  Sevier 
and  her  son,  G.  W.  S,,  after  the  writer's  marriage  into  the  family. 

2* 


34:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF    THE   WEST. 

the  father  of  eighteen  children,  all  of  whom  maintained  good  char 
acters,  were  "  given  to  hospitality,"  and  lived  comfortably  and  use- 
fully, although  none  of  them  acquired  great  wealth.  Mrs.  Sevier 
was  often  left  alone  to  manage  domestic  affairs,  not  only  within 
doors,  but  without.  The  life  of  the  Colonel  was  one  of  incessant 
action,  adventure,  and  contest.  The  calls  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
the  necessities  of  the  times,  withdrew  him  frequently  from  home. 
The  history  of  the  Indian  wars  of  East  Tennessee,  of  the  settlement 
of  the  country,  and  of  the  organization  of  the  State  Government,  is 
the  record  of  the  deeds  of  his  life.  No  commander  was  more  fre- 
quently engaged  in  conflicts  with  the  Indians  with  equal  success  and 
such  small  loss  of  his  men.  A.nd  yet  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  he 
enjoyed,  to  a  remarkable  extent,  the  respect  of  the  tribes  and  chiefs 
with  whom  he  contended.  It  is  a  known  historical  fact  that  in  1781 
he  had  taken  to  his  own  home,  on  the  Chucka,  a  number  of  Indian 
prisoners,  it  is  said  thirty,  where  they  were  treated  with  so  much  kind- 
ness by  his  wife  and  family  that  several  of  them  remained  for  years, 
although  they  performed  very  little  work,  and  this  wholly  at  their 
option.  The  influence  of  Mrs.  Sevier  was  intentionally  and  happily 
exerted  upon  these  captives,  that  it  might  tell,  as  it  did,  upon  their 
friends  within  "  the  nation  ;"  and  the  family,  no  doubt,  enjoyed 
more  protection  than  otherwise  they  could  have  expected. 

Col.  Sevier  acquired  a  sobriquet  among  the  Indians,  which  was 
some  evidence  of  their  familiarity  with  and  attachment  to  him,  and 
probably  of  advantage.  As  long  as  he  lived  they  called  him 
"  Chucka  Jack."  He  was  afterwards  called  the  "  Treaty-maker." 
They  had  a  name  for  Mrs.  Sevier  also,  which  is  now  not  remembered. 
The  tones  were  the  worst  enemies,  and  perpetrated  more  damage  to 
Col.  Sevier's  property  than  did  ever  the  Indians ;  and  from  them 
Mrs.  Sevier  had  repeatedly  to  hide  most  of  her  small  stock  of  house- 
hold articles.  She  usually  remained  at  the  farm,  and  never  would 
consent  to  be  shut  up  in  a  blockhouse,  always  saying— 

"  The  wife  of  John  Sevier 
Knows  no  fear." 


CATHARINE    SEVIER.  35 

"  I  neither  skulk  from  duty  nor  from  clanger." 

And  we  believe  this  was  emphatically  true.  We  have  seen  her 
in  advanced  age — tall  in  stature,  erect  in  person,  stately  in  walk? 
with  small,  piercing  blue  eyes,  raven  locks,  a  Roman  nose,  and  firm- 
ness unmistakable  in  her  mouth  and  every  feature.  She  was  able  to 
teach  her  children  in  the  exercises  conducive  to  health  and  useful- 
ness, to  strength  of  nerve  and  to  action.  •  None  could,  with  equal 
grace  and  facility,  placing  the  hand  upon  the  mane  of  a  spirited 
horse,  and  standing  by  his  side,  seat  herself  upon  his  back  or  in  the 
saddle.  She  had  the  appearance  and  used  the  language  of  indepen- 
dence, haughtiness,  and  authority,  and  she  never  entirely  laid  these 
aside.  Yet  was  not  her  pride  offensive,  nor  her  words  or  demeanor 
intended  heedlessly  to  wound.  It  could  be  said  of  her  without  any 
question,  that  she  "  reverenced  her  husband,"  and  she  instilled  the 
same  Scriptural  sentiment  into  the  minds  of  his  children.  The  very 
high  respect  and  deference  which  one  of  her  dignified  appearance 
ever  paid  to  him,  no  doubt  had  a  favorable  influence  upon  others  ; 
for  though  he  was  a  man  of  remarkable  elegance  of  person,  air  and 
address,  and  of  popular  attraction,  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that  she 
contributed  much  to  all  these  traits,  and  to  his  usefulness  and  zeal  in 
public  service.  She  relieved  him  of  his  cares  at  home,  and  applauded 
his  devotion  to  the  service  of  the  people. 

Her  reply  to  those  who  urged  her  "  to  fort,"  or  to  take  protection 
in  one  of  the  stations,  was,  "  I  would  as  soon  die  by  the  tomahawk 
and  scalping-knife  as  by  famine  !  I  put  .my  trust  in  that  Power 
who  rules  the  armies  of  Heaven,  and  among  men  on  the  earth.  I 
know  my  husband  has  an  eye  and  an  arm  for  the  Indians  and  the 
tories  who  would  harm  us,  and  though  he  is  gone  often,  and  for 
weeks  at  a  time,  he  comes  home  when  I  least  expect  him,  and  always 
covered  with  laurels.  *  *  If  God  protects  him  whom  duty  calls 
into  danger,  so  will  He  those  who  trust  in  him  and  stand  at  then* 
post.  *  *  Who  would  stay  out  if  his  family  forted  ?" 

This  was  the  spirit  of  the  heroine — this  was  the  spirit  of  Catharine 
Sevier.  Neither  she  nor  her  husband  seemed  to  think  there  could 
be  danger  or  loss  when  they  could  encourage  or  aid  others  to 


36 


PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 


daring,  to  doty,  and  to  usefulness.  Col.  Sevier  at  one  time  advised 
her  to  go  into  the  fort,  but  yielded  to  her  respectful  remonstrance. 
At  one  time  the  tories  came  to  her  house  and  demanded  her  hus- 
band's thereabouts,  and  finally  avowed  that  their  intention  was  to 
hang  him  on  the  highest  tree  in  front  of  his  house  ;  but  that  if  she 
would,  tell  them  where  he  was,  she  and  her  children  should  be  safe. 
Of  course  she  refused  to  give  them  the  information.  One  man  drew  a 
pistol  and  threatened  to  blow  out  her  brains  if  she  did  not  tell  or  at 
least  give  up  all  the  money  she  had. 

•"Shoot!  shoot!"  was  her  answer.  "I  am  not  afraid  to  die! 
But  remember,  while  there  is  a  Sevier  on  the  earth,  my  blood  will 
not  be  unavenged  !" 

He  dared  not — he  did  not  shoot.  The  leader  of  the  gang  told 
the  man  to  put  up  his  pistols,  saying,  "  such  a  woman  is  too  brave 
to  die."  She  knew  some  of  the  party,  and  that  they  were  noted 
thieves  and  tories. 

At  another  time  they  came  to  her  smokehouse  to  carry  off 
meat.  She  took  down  the  gun,  which  her  husband  always  left  with 
her  in  good  order,  and  said  to  them :  "  The  first  one  who  takes 
down  a  piece  of  meat  is  a  dead  man !"  They  could  not  mistake  her 
resolution.  Her  tone,  manner,  and  appearance  avowed  clearly 
enough  that  she  uttered  no  vain  warning  ;  that  she  knew  her  rights 
and  dared  maintain  them.  They  left  without  taking  anything.  In 
the  fall  of  1780,  a  noted  loyalist  by  the  name  of  Dykes  planned  the 
seizure  of  Sevier,  but  the  plot  was  discovered  to  Mrs.  Sevier  by  his 
wife,  as  she  stood  by  the  smokehouse  with  her  apron  held 
out  to  receive  meal  and  a  slice  of  meat  from  the  Colonel's 
lady.* 

Some  of  their  negroes  were  stolen  and  never  all  recovered,  being 
taken  into  the  Indian  nation  by  the  tories,  and  thence  to  Savannah 
or  Charleston  while  in  possession  of  the  British.  There  was  a  mortal 
enmity  between  some  of  the  active  tories  and  the  Seviers, 
resulting  in  the  hanging  of  some  of  the  former  on  two  occasions. 

*  See  Wheeler's  North  Carolina. 


CATHARINE    SEYIER.  37 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mrs.  Sevier  to  do  acts  of  hospitality  and 
kindness  to  some  of  this  set  and  their  descendants  many  years 
after  the  war.  And  these  kindnesses  she  performed,  although  she 
acknowledged  that  she  felt  at  the  same  time  the  spirit  of  re- 
venge rankling  in  her  bosom.  "  Some  of  them,"  she  would  say, 
"and  perhaps  all  their  children,  may  make  worthy  people  and  good 
citizens  if  they  are  not  kept  continually  ashamed  and  mortified  by 
3eing  reminded  of  their  bad  conduct  or  of  their  tory  origin." 

The  sick  and  wounded  soldier  ever  found  a  welcome  and  nursing 
at  the  home  of  Sevier.  The  supplies  for  many  of  the  Colonel's 
Indian  expeditions  were  from  his  own  private  means.  His  wife,  sons, 
and  servants  were  remarkably  successful  in  raising  corn  and  hogs, 
and  cheerfully  were  these  given  to  the  furtherance  of  the  great  ob- 
jects in  hand.* 

All  her  life  lon£  was  Mrs.  Sevier  distinguished  for  her  kindness 

o  o  i 

and  liberality  to  the  poor.  Towards  children  she  was  gentle,  though 
she  had  an  appearance  and  manner  whicji  prevented  them  from 
giving  that  annoyance  they  are  apt  to  do  to  the  aged.  It  was  usual 
with  her  to  keep  a  supply  of  maple-sugar  and  cinnamon-bark  in  her 
spice-box,  from  which  she  would  gratify  them,  and  then  wave  them 
kindly  away.  This  motion  of  her  hand  was  expressive,  and  easily 
understood. 

In  1*784  occurred  the  scenes  of  the  "State  of  Frankland." 
The  people  of  East  Tennessee,  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  under  North  Carolina,  and  impelled,  as  they  urged, 
by  the  necessity  of  self-protection,  organized  a  separate  and  indepen- 
dent government,  giving  that  name  to  the  new  State.  John  Sevier 
was  its  first  and  last  Governor.  The  establishment  of  this  little  re- 

*  When  the  paper  currency  of  North  Carolina  was  so  depreciated  that  a 
$100  bill  would  rarely  buy  "a  pone  of  corn-bread  and  slice  of  ham,'7  and 
many  persons  would  not  take  it  at  all  in  exchange  for  provisions  or  other 
property,  the  soldier  could  always  purchase  an  ample  supply  at  a  fair  estimate 
at  Plum  Grove,  and  thus  by  sales  of  lands,  personal  property,  and  perhaps 
in  satisfaction  for  his  military  and  public  services,  did  the  fcl  old  Continental 
currency"  accumulate  in  the  desk  of  Gen.  Sevier  to  sums  of  between  $200.000 
and  $300,000,  which,  with  his  papers,  were  left  in  the  hands  of  his  son,  the 
late  Col.  G.  W.  JS.,  of  Tennessee. 


38  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE   WEST. 

public  was  declared  by  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina  to  be  no  less 
than  revolt,  and  all  concerned  in  it  were  commanded  to  return  to 
their  duty  and  allegiance,  and  to  refuse  obedience  to  any  self-created 
authority,  unsanctioned  by  the  legislature  of  North  Carolina.  Not- 
withstanding this  remonstrance,  the  new  government  proceeded  in 
the  exercise  of  sovereignty.  Tn  the  conflict  of  authorities  and  the 
civil  and  personal  contests  which  grew  out  of  this  state  of  things  in 
the  revolted  territory,  the  prudent  and  judicious  conduct  of  Mrs. 
Sevier  added  to  her  husband's  reputation  as  well  as  her  own. 
His  house  became  the  place  of  general  resort.  It  was  proclaimed 
open  and  free  to  all  the  friends  of  the  lights  of  self-defence  and  in- 
dependence, and  the  impressive  dignity  and  noble  bearing  of  Mrs. 
Sevier  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  upon  all  who  resorted  to 
that  home  for  counsel,  aid,  or  hospitality. 

The  supporters  of  the  new  State  were  obliged  in  time,  however, 
to  enter  into  measures  of  adjustment.  When  the  Governor  Was 
seized  by  its  enemies  and  spirited  away  into  the  interior  of  North 
Carolina,  Mrs.  Sevier,  with  the  promptness,  energy,  and  daring 
which  qualify  for  any  occasion  of  utmost  moment,  aroused  his 
friends,  and  would  have  gone,  as  a  fearless  leader,  "  to  conquer  or  to 
die."  But  seeing  that  her  relatives,  his  relatives,  sons  and  friends 
were  ^esolved  upon  his  release  and  restoration,  she  little  doubted 
his  speedy  return,  and  she  was  not  disappointed. 

And  when  a  returning  sense  of  justice,  and  the  revulsion  of  pub- 
lic sentiment  and  power  of  popular  gratitude,  produced  a  repeal  of 
"  the  odious  acts  of  exclusion"  of  North  Carolina,  placing  him  "  in 
lone  conspicuity,"  and  the  people  called  him,  by  unanimous  voice, 
again  and  again,  and  yet  again,  to  preside  as  Governor  of  Tennessee, 
and  to  a  Seat  in  Congress  of  the  United  States,  then  did  her  great 
heart  swell  with  thankfulness  to  God  and  her  fellow-citizens.  Then 
did  she  acknowledge  that  her  husband  had  not  endured  peril,  toil, 
and  sacrifice  in  vain,  though  far  short  of  the  reward  to  which  she 
thought  him  justly  entitled.  And  we  doubt  not  posterity  will  coin- 
cide in  this  judgment. 

Durinsf  the  twelve  years  in   which   he  officiated   as  Governor  of 


CATHARINE   SEVIEB.  39 

Tennessee,  his  wife  made  his  home  delightful  to  him  and  his  chil- 
dren. It  was  the  rest  of  the  weary,  the  asylum  of  the  afflicted,  well 
known  as  "  the  hospitable  mansion  of  the  first  Governor,  the  people's 
favorite." 

The  education  of  Mrs.  Sevier,  in  respect  of  literature  and  the 
embellishments  of  dress  and  music,  was  such  as  she  acquired  chiefly 
from  reading  the  Bible,  hearing  the  wild  birds  sing,  and  the  Indians' 
pow-wow.  "  I  picked  up  a  good  deal,"  she  was  accustomed  to  say, 
"  from  observation  of  men  and  their  acts — for  that  was  a  business 
with  us  in  the  early  settlements — and  we  examined  the  works  of 
nature  to  some  advantage  ;  but  as  to  school  education,  we  had  pre- 
cious little  of  that  except  at  our  mothers'  knees." 

She  embraced  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  Presbyterians,  and 
her  life  throughout  was  exemplary  and  useful.  In  this  faith  sho 
lived  and  died.  A  favorite  expression  of  hers  was :  "  I  always  trust 
in  Providence."  And  she  taught  her  children  that  "  trust  in  God, 
with  a  pure  heart,  is  to  be  rich  enough ;  if  you  are  lazy,  your  blood 
will  stagnate  in  your  veins,  and  your  trust  die."  She  would  never 
be  idle.  Knitting  often  engaged  her  fingers,  while  her  mind  and 
tongue  were  occupied  in  thought  and  conversation.  She  always 
wore  at  her  side  a  bunch  of  very  bright  keys. 

After  the  death  of  Gov.  Sevier  on  the  Tallapoosa,  in  1815,  where 
he  had  gone  to  cement  peace  and  establish  the  boundary  with  the 
Creek  Indians,  Mrs.  Sevier  removed  to  Overtoil  County,  in  Middle 
Tennessee,  where  most  of  her  children  resided.  She  selected  a  most 
romantic  and  secluded  spot  for  her  own  retired  residence.  It  was 
upon  a  high  bench,  or  spur  of  one  of  the  mountains  of  that  county, 
a  few  miles  from  Obeds  River,  with  higher  mountains  on  either  side. 
There  were  some  ten  or  fifteen  acres  of  tillable  land,  and  a  bold 
never-failing  spring  issuing  from  near  the  surface  of  the  level  tract, 
which  cast  its  pure  cold  waters  down  the  side  of  the  mountain 
hundreds  of  feet  into  the  narrow  valley. .  In  a  dense  wood  near  that 
spring,  and  miles  distant  from  any  other  habitation,  did  her  sons  erect 
her  log  cabins  for  bedroom,  dining-room,  and  kitchen,  and  others 
for  stable  and  crib.  She  resided  for  years  at  "  The  Pale,"  with  the 


40  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

General's  aged  body-servant,  Toby  (who  had  accompanied  him  in  all 
his  Indian  campaigns),  his  wife,  Rachel,  and  a  favorite  female  servant 
and  boy.  Seldom  did  she 'come  down  from  her  eyrie  in  the 
mountain.  The  aged  eagle  had  lost  her  mate.  She  made  her  nest 
among  the  lofty  oaks  upon  the  mountain  heights,  where  she  breathed 
the  air  and  drank  the  water  untainted  and  undisturbed,  fresh  and 
pure,  and  nearest  to  the  heavens. 

We  have  visited  her  in  that  chosen  spot.  "The  Governor's 
widow"  could  never  be  looked  upon  as  an  ordinary  countrywoman. 
"Whoever  saw  her  could  not  be  satisfied  with  a  single  glance — he 
must  look  again.  And  if  she  stood  erect,  and  her  penetrating,  eye 
caughf  the  beholder's,  he  judged  at  once  there  was  in  that  mind  a 
consciousness  of  worth  and  an  acquaintance  with  notable  events. 
He  would  wish  to  converse  with  her.  She  used  language  of  much 
expressiveness  $nd  point.  She  never  forgot  that  she  was  the  widow 
of  Gov.  and  Gen.  Sevier  ;  that  he  had  given  forty  years  of  his  life  to 
the  service  of  his  country,  and  in  the  most  arduous  and  perilous 
exposure,  contributing  from  his  own  means  for  more  than  he  ever 
received  from  the  public  treasury  ;  and  yet  he  never  reproached  that 
country  for  injustice,  neither  would  she  murmur  nor  repine. 

At  times  she  was  disposed  to  sociable  cheerfulness  and  humor,  as 
one  in  youthful  days,  and  then  would  she  relate  interesting  anecdotes 
and  incidents  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  the  manners  and 
habits  of  the  people,  of  the  "  barefoot  and  moccasin  dance"  and  "  spice- 
wood  tea-parties."  Her  woman's  pride,  or  some  other  feminine  feel- 
ing, induced  her  to  preserve  with  the  utmost  care  an  imported  or 
bought  carpet,  of  about  twelve  by  fifteen  feet  in  size,  which  had 
been  presented  to  her  as  the  "first  Governor's  wife,"  and  as  the  first 
article  of  the  kind  ever  laid  upon  a  "  puncheon,"  or  split-log  floor 
west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  Whenever  she  expected  company 
upon  her  own  invitation,  or  persons  of  character  to  pay  their  respects 
to  her,  the  Scotch  carpet  was  sure  to  be  spread  out,  about  the  size 
of  a  modern  bedquilt.  But  as  soon  as  company  departed,  the  ever- 
present  and  faithful  servants,  Suzy  and  Jeff,  incontinently  commenced 
dusting  and  folding,  and  it  was  soon  again  boxed  up.  Three  times 


CATHAEINE   SEVIER.  41 

were  we  permitted  the  honorable  privilege  of  placing  our  well  cleaned 
boots  upon  this  dear  relic  from  the  household  of  the  first  Governor 
of  Tennessee,  and  of  admiring  the  pair  of  ancient  and  decrepit 
branch-candlesticks  as  they  stood  on  the  board  over  the  fireplace. 

The  bucket  of  cool  water  was  ever  on  the  shelf  at  the  batten-door, 
which  stood  wide  open,  swung  back  upon  its  wooden  hinges ;  and 
there  hung  the  sweet  water-gourd ;  and  from  very  love  of  everything 
around,  we  repeatedly  helped  ourselves.  The  floors,  the  doors,  the 
chairs,  the  dishes  on  the  shelves — yea,  everything  seemed  to  have 
been  scoured.  There  was  a  lovely  cleanness  and  order,  and  we  be- 
lieve, "  godliness  with  contentment." 

She  was  remarkably  neat  in  her  person,  tidy,  and  particular,  and 
uniform  in  her  dress,  which  might  be  called  half-mourning — a  white 
cap  with  black  trimmings.  She  had  a  hearth-rug,  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  favorite  carpet,  which  was  usually  laid  before  the  fire- 
place in  her  own  room,  and  there  she  commonly  was  seated,  erect 
as  a  statue — no  stooping  of  the  figure,  so  often  acquired  by  indolence 
and  careless  habit,  or  from  infirm  old  age — but  with  her  feet  placed 
upon  her  rug,  her  work-stand  near  her  side,  the  Bible  ever  thereon 
or  in  her  lap,  the  Governor's  hat  upon  the  wall — such  were  the 
striking  features  of  that  mountain  hermitage. 

There  was  resignation  and  good  cheer — there  was  hospitality  and 
worth  in  that  plain  cottage ;  and  had  not  the  prospect  of  better  for- 
tune, and  attachment  to  children  married  and  settled  at  a  distance, 
induced  her  own  sons  to  remove  from  her  vicinity,  she  ought  never 
to  have  been  urged  to  come  down  from  that  "  lodge  in  the  wilder- 
ness." But  her  last  son  having  resolved  to  remove  to  Alabama,  she 
consented  to  go  with  him  and  pass  her  few  remaining  days  in  his 
family. 

She  departed  this  life  on  the  2d  October,  1836,  at  Russelville,  in 
the  State  of  Alabama,  aged  about  eighty-two. 


III. 


REBECCA   BOONE. 

IN  the  rural  cemetery  near  Frankfort,  upon  a  hill  overlooking  the 
river,  under  the  shadow  of  protecting  trees,  are  two  green  mounds, 
unmarked  by  slab  or  stone  informing  the  stranger  that  the  remains 
of  two  honored  pioneers — Daniel  Boone  and  his  wife,  rest  beneath. 
The  beauty  of  the  locality  is  unrivalled,  and  it  is  not  far  from  the 
magnificent  monument  erected  by  Kentucky  to  her  brave  officers 
fallen  on  the  field  of  battle ;  the  splendid  shaft  inscribed  with  their 
names,  and  surmounted  by  a  figure  of  Victory  holding  crowns  in 
her  hands.  It  is  hoped  that  ere  long  the  State  will  do  justice  to 
the  memory  of  those  whose  arduous  efforts  won  a  victory  not  less 
glorious  over  the  untamed  wilderness,  and  opened  the  way  to  others 
as  bold  and  persevering. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  father  of  Daniel  Boone  had  his 
residence  on  the  borders  of  the  Yadkin  in  North  Carolina,  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alleghanies ;  then  a 
frontier  country,  and  the  greater  part  of  it  unbroken  forest.  Near 
the  farm  here  opened,  was  another  owned  by  Mr.  Bryan,  comprising 
about  a  hundred  acres  beautifully  situated  on  a  gentle  swell  of 
ground ;  the  eminence  crested  with  laurels  and  yellow  poplars,  which 
half  concealed  the  farmer's  dwelling.  A  wild  mountain  stream  ran 
along  the  base  of  the  hill.  This  Joseph  Bryan  was  the  oldest  son 


REBECCA   BOONE,  43 

of  Morgan  Bryan,  of  Virginia,  the  head  of  a  very  respectable  fam- 
ily. His  daughter,  Rebecca,  was  born  near  Winchester,  in  Vir- 
ginia. 

Flint's  "  Life  of  Boone,"  contains  the  following  account  of  his  first 
meeting  with  his  future  wife,  referred  to  as  authentic  by  other  bio- 
graphers : 

"  Young  Boone  was  one  night  engaged  in  a  fire  hunt  with  a  young 
friend.  Their  coursa  led  them  to  the  deeply  timbered  bottom  which 
skirted  the  stream  that  wound  round  Bryan's  pleasant  plantation. 
That  the  reader  may  have  an  idea  what  sort  of  a  pursuit  it  was  that 
young  Boone  was  engaged  in,  during  an  event  so  decisive  of  his 
future  fortunes,  we  present  a  brief  sketch  of  a  night  fire  hunt.  Two 
persons  are  indispensable  to  it.  The  horseman  that  precedes,  bears 
on  his  shoulder  what  is  called  a  fire  pan,  full  of  blazing  pine  knots, 
which  casts  a  bright  and  flickering  glare  far  through  the  forest. 
The  second  follows  at  some  distance  with  his  rifle  prepared  for 
action.  No  spectacle  is  more  impressive  than  this  of  pairs  of  hunt- 
ers thus  kindling  the  forest  into  a  glare.  The  deer,  reposing 
quietly  in  his  thicket,  is  awakened  by  the  approaching  cavalcade, 
and  instead  of  flying  from  the  portentous  brilliance,  remains  stu- 
pidly gazing  upon  it,  as  if  charmed  to  the  spot.  The  animal  is 
betrayed  to  its  doom  by  the  gleaming  of  its  fixed  and  innocent 
eyes.  This  cruel  mode  of  securing  a  fatal  shot  is  called  in  hunters' 
phrase — shining  the  eyes. 

"  The  two  young  men  reached  a  corner  of  the  former's  field  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  evening.  Young  Boone  gave  the  customary  sig- 
nal to  his  mounted  companion  preceding  him,  to  stop ;  an  indica- 
tion that  he  had  shined  the  eyes  of  a  deer.  Boone  dismounted  and 
fastened  his  horse  to  a  tree.  Ascertaining  that  his  rifle  was  in  order 
he  advanced  cautiously  behind  a  covert  of  bushes,  to  rest  the  right 
distance  for  a  shot.  The  deer  is  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its 
eyes  when  thus  shined.  The  mild  brilliance  of  the  two  orbs  was 
distinctly  visible.  Whether  warned  by  a  presentiment,  or  arrested 
by  a  palpitation  and  strange  feelings  within,  at  noting  a  new  ex- 
pression in  the  blue  and  dewy  lights  that  gleamed  to  his  heart,  we 


44  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

say  not.  But  the  unerring  rifle  fell,  and  a  rustling  told  him  the 
game  had  fled.  Something  whispered  him  it  was  not  a  deer  ;  and 
yet  the  fleet  step,  as  the  game  bounded  away,  might  easily  be  mis- 
taken for  that  of  the  light-footed  animal.  A  second  thought  im- 
pelled him  to  pursue  the  rapidly  retreating  game ;  and  he  sprang 
away  in  the  direction  of  the  sound,  leaving  his  companion  to  occupy 
himself  as  he  might.  The  fugitive  had  the  advantage  of  a  consider- 
able advance  of  him,  and  apparently  a  better  knowledge  of  the 
localities  of  the  place.  But  the  hunter  was  perfect  in  all  his  field 
exercises,  and  scarcely  less  fleet-footed  than  a  deer,  and  he  gained 
rapidly  on  the  object  of  his  pursuit,  which  advanced  a  little  distance 
parallel  with  the  field  fence,  and  then,  as  if  endowed  with  the 
utmost  accomplishment  of  gymnastics,  cleared  the  fence  at  a  leap. 
The  hunter,  embarrassed  with  his  rifle  and  accoutrements,  was  driven 
to  the  slow  and  humiliating  expedient  of  climbing  it.  But  an  out- 
line of  the  form  of  the  fugitive,  fleeting  through  the  shades  in  the 
direction  of  the  house,  assured  him  that  he  had  mistaken  the  species 
of  the  game.  His  heart  throbbed  from  an  hundred  sensations,  and 
among  them  an  apprehension  of  the  consequences  of  what  would 
have  resulted  from  discharging  his  rifle,  when  he  had  first  shined 
those  liquid  blue  eyes.  Seeing  that  the  fleet  game  made  straight 
in  the  direction  of  the  house,  he  said  to  himself:  'I  will  see  the 
pet  deer  in  its  lair,'  and  he  directed  his  steps  to  the  same  place. 
Half  a  score  of  dogs  opened  their  barking  upon  him  as  he  ap- 
proached the  house,  and  advertised  the  master  that  a  stranger 
was  approaching.  Having  hushed(  the  dogs,  and  learned  the  name 
of  his  visitant,  he  introduced  him  to  his  family  as  the  son  of  their 
neighbor  Boone. 

"  Scarce  had  the  first  words  of  introduction  been  uttered,  before  the 
opposite  door  opened,  and  a  boy  apparently  of  seven,  and  a  girl  of 
sixteen,  rushed  in,  panting  for  breath,  and  seeming  in  affright. 

"  '  Sister  went  down  to  the  river  and  a  painter  chased  her,  and  she 
is  almost  scared  to  death,'  exclaimed  the  boy. 

"  The  ruddy,  flaxen-haired  girl  stood  full  in  view  of  her  terrible 
pursuer,  leaning  upon  his  rifle,  and  surveying  her  with  the  most 


KEBECCA   BOONE.  45 

eager  admiration.  ~*  Rebecca,  this  is  young  Boone,  son  of  our 
neighbor,'  was  the  laconic  introduction.  Both  were  young,  beauti- 
ful, and  at  the  period  when  the  affections  exercise  their  most  ener- 
getic influence.  The  circumstances  of  the  introduction  were  favora- 
ble to  the  result,  and  the  young  hunter  felt  that  the  eyes  had  slimed 
his  bosom  as  fatally  as  his  rifle  shot  had  ever  the  innocent  deer  of 
the  thickets.  She  too,  when  she  saw  the  light,  open,  bold  fore- 
head, the  clear,  keen,  yet  gentle  and  affectionate  eye,  the  firm  front, 
and  the  visible  impress  of  decision  and  fearlessness  of  the  hunter — 
•when  she  interpreted  a  look  which  said  as  distinctly  as  looks  could 
say  it,  l  how  terrible  it  would  have  been  to  have  fired !'  can  hardly 
be  supposed  to  have  regarded  him  with  indifference.  Nor  can  it  be 
wondered  at  that  she  saw  in  him  her  beau  ideal  of  excellence  and 
beauty.  The  inhabitants  of  cities,  who  live  in  mansions,  and  read 
novels  stored  with  unreal  pictures  of  life  and  the  heart,  are  apt  to 
imagine  that  love,  with  all  its  golden  illusions,  is  reserved  exclusively 
for  them.  It  is  a  most  egregious  mistake.  A  model  of  ideal  beauty 
and  perfection  is  woven  in  almost  every  youthful  heart,  of  the 
brightest  and  most  brilliant  threads  that  compose  the  web  of  exist- 
ence. It  may  not  be  said  that  this  forest  maiden  was  deeply  and 
foolishly  smitten  at  first  sight.  All  reasonable  time  and  space  were 
granted  to  the  claims  of  maidenly  modesty.  As  for  Boone,  he  was 
remarkable  for  the  backwoods  attribute  of  never  being  beaten  out 
of  his  track,  and  he  ceased  not  to  woo,  until  he  gained  the  heart  of  Re- 
becca Bryan.  In  a  word,  he  courted  her  successfully,  and  they  were 
married." 

Boone's  first  step  after  his  marriage  was  to  find  a  suitable  place 
where  he  might  cultivate  his  farm,  and  hunt  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage. His  wife  remained  at  home,  while  he  went  to  explore  the 
unsettled  regions  of  North  Carolina.  When  he  had  selected  a 
locality  near  the  head  waters  of  the  Yadkin,  Rebecca,  with  the  same 
resolute  spirit  of  enterprise  which  afterwards  led  her  to  the  wilds  of 
Kentucky,  bade  farewell  to  her  friends,  and  followed  her  adventurous 
husband.  In  a  few  months  her  home  had  assumed  a  pleasant 
aspect ;  a  neat  cabin  stood  on  a  pleasant  eminence  near  the  river, 


46  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE  WEST. 

surrounded  by  an  enclosed  field ;  the  farm  was  well  stocked',  and 
with  the  abundance  of  game  in  the  woods,  the  settlers  had  no  lack 
of  means  for  comfort  and  enjoyment.  The  rude  dwelling  frequently 
offered  the  traveller  shelter  ;  and  by  a  cheerful  fire  and  table  loaded 
with  the  finest  game,  with  the  enhancing  blessing  of  a  hospitable 
welcome,  was  many  a  tale  of  adventure  narrated,  while  as  yet  the 
surrounding  forest  was  untouched  by  an  axe.  For  some  years  the 
young  couple  lived  in  this  sylvan  retirement,  till  the  fields  of  other 
emigrants  opened  wide  clearings,  and  dwellings  rose  so  thickly  in  the 
neighborhood  as  to  form  villages  ;  when  Boone  made  up  his  mind 
to  remove  to  some  wilder  spot. 

The  country  west  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains  was  almost 
unknown  in  1760.  Some  few  hardy  adventurers  had  struck  into 
the  pathless  forests  which  extended  along  the  frontier  settlements, 
but  the  Alleghanies  had  proved  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  the 
families  of  settlers.  The  stories  told  by  adventurers,  meanwhile, 
who  had  ventured  into  the  skirts  of  the  wilderness,  kindled  the 
imagination  of  enterprising  hunters.  In  1767,  Finley  went  still 
further,  and  penetrated  through  a  portion  of  Tennessee.  "  There  is 
nothing,"  says  the  biographer  of  Boone,  "  grand  or  imposing  in 
scenery,  nothing  striking  or  picturesque  in  the  ascent  and  precipi- 
tous declivity  of  mountains  covered  with  woods ;  nothing  romantic 
or  delightful  in  deep  and  sheltered  valleys  through  which  wind 
clear  streams — that  was  not  found  in  this  region.  Mountains 
stretch  along  in  continuous  ridges,  and  now  and  then  shoot  up  into 
elevated  peaks.  On  the  summit  of  some  spread  plateaus,  which 
afford  the  most  romantic  prospects,  and  offer  every  advantage  for 
cultivation,  with  the  purest  and  most  bracing  atmosphere.  No 
words  can  picture  the  secluded  beauty  of  some  of  the  vales  bordering 
the  small  streams,  which  fling  their  spray,  transparent  as  air,  over 
moss-covered  and  time-worn  rocks,  walled  in  by  precipitous  moun- 
tains, down  which  pour  numerous  waterfalls." 

The  rich  soil  and  inviting  aspect  of  this  country  gave  large  ideas 
of  its  advantages  ;  and  as  the  wanderer  penetrated  into  Kentucky, 
the  luxuriant  beauty  of  its  plains,  its  rich  cane-brakes  and  flower- 


REBECCA   BOONE.  4/T 

covered  forests  promised  everything  desirable  in  a  new  home.  The 
forest  abounded  with  deer,  elk,  and  buffaloes,  and  more  savage  wild 
beasts  had  their  lair  in  its  depths  and  in  the  thick  tangles  of  the 
green  cane  ;  while  pheasants,  partridges,  wild  turkeys,  &c.,  were  as 
plenty  as  domestic  fowls  upon  a  farm.  The  report  of  Finley  deter- 
mined Boone  to  go  westward,  and  others  having  been  induced  to 
join  him  in  an  exploring  expedition,  six  assembled  at  his  house  on 
the  first  of  May,  1769 — all  the  neighbors  being  gathered  to  witness 
their  departure.  Mrs.  Boone  parted  with  her  husband,  who  left  his 
house  laden  with  his  rifle,  hunter's  bag  of  ammunition,  and  light  knap- 
sack— the  only  luggage  taken  by  the  adventurers.  Their  expedition 
across  the  Alleghanies  into  the  boundless  forests  of  the  Ohio  valley, 
where  the  buffalo  roamed  like  herds  of  cattle,  has  been  elsewhere 
described.  The  land  appeared  the  very  paradise  of  hunters,  and 
Boone  could  not  imagine  how  any  one  who  could  fix  his  home  in 
such  a  region,  would  stay  among  the  barren  pine-hills  of  North 
Carolina.  The  exploring  party  divided,  to  take  different  routes,  and 
Boone  and  Stewart  were  taken  prisoners  by  wandering  Indians. 

They  managed,  however,  to  escape,  and  Boone  joined  his  elder 
brother,  while  Stewart  and  another  of  their  number  were  killed. 
The  brothers  were  soon  in  want  of  ammunition,  and  the  elder 
Boone  returned  to  North  Carolina,  while  Daniel,  regardless  of 
danger,  remained  alone  in  the  rough  cabin  he  had  built,  from  the 
first  of  May  to  the  27th  of  July,  1770,  at  which  time  his  brother 
came  back  with  cheering  news  from  his  family.  Having  finished 
their  survey,  both  returned  to  report  to  their  neighbors  what  they 
had  seen,  and  form  a  company  of  such  persons  as  were  willing  to 
join  the  families  of  the  Boones  in  their  pioneer  settlement.  Their 
descriptions  of  the  luxuriance  of  the  country — its  cane-brakes,  clover 
plains,  limestone  springs,  maple  orchards,  streams  and  forests  filled 
with  game  and  wild-fowl,  were  matched  by  fearful  accounts  from 
others  of  the  depredations  and  cruelties  of  Indians,  dangers  of  wild 
beasts,  and  diseases  peculiar  to  a  wild  country ;'  so  that  it  was  two 
years  before  preparations  were  completed  for  the  expedition.  The 
party  commenced  the  march  the  26th  September,  1773,  and  were 


48  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

joined  by  forty  persons  in  "  Powell's  valley,"  a  settlement  some 
distance  westward  ;  numbering  about  eighty  in  all.  They  crossed 
the  wild  and  rugged  range  of  mountains  by  the  course  the  brothers 
had  traced  on  their  return,  but  they  were  not  destined  to  proceed 
much  further.  As  they  descended  the  west  side  of  Walden's  ridge, 
along  a  narrow  defile,  they  were  suddenly  startled  by  the  yells  of 
Indians,  and  a  fierce  affray  ensued,  in  which  six  men  were  killed, 
and  some  of  the  stock  scattered  and  lost.  In  the  general  distress, 
the  company  decided  unanimously  on  giving  up  the  attempt  to  form 
a  settlement  in  Kentucky,  and  returning  to  Clinch  River,  forty 
miles  in  the  rear,  where  a  number  of  families  had  already  located 
themselves.  It  may  be  supposed  that  Mrs.  Boone,  whose  eldest  son 
had  been  slain  in  the  encounter,  had  lost  all  spirit  for  the  enterprise, 
and  her  husband  was  obliged  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  rest. 
Their  new  home,  accordingly,  was  for  some  time  on  the  banks  of 
Clinch  River.  In  June,  1774,  Boone  was  required  by  Governor 
Dunmore  of  Virginia,  to  conduct  a  party  of  surveyors  to  the  falls  of 
Ohio.  In  1775,  he  superintended  the  erection  of  a  fort  on  the 
Kentucky  River,  afterwards  called  Boonesborough.  The  fort  con- 
sisted of  one  block-house  and  several  cabins,  surrounded  by  palisades. 
This  work  was  accomplished  amidst  troubles  from  the  Indians,  and 
when  it  was  finished  Boone  returned  for  his  family.  They  took  up 
their  abode  at  the  earliest  military  station — except  the  house  built  by 
Harrod  in  1774  in  Kentucky — Mrs.  Boone  and  her  daughters  being 
the  first  white  women  who  had  ever  stood  on  the  banks  of  Ken- 
tucky river. 

It  was  the  close  of  summer,  and  at  this  time  the  spot  selected  for 
their  residence  appeared  in  its  best  aspect.  The  early  autumn  was 
mild  and  beautiful,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  land  as^  soon  as  spring  should  open.  Winter  came,  and 
passed  with  little  discomfort.  Their  cabins  were  thoroughly  daubed 
with  clay ;  they  had  abundance  of  fuel,  and  were  at  no  loss  for 
game  and  provisions.  Those  who  went  out  to  fell  trees,  however, 
were  constrained  to  be  on  their  guard  against  attacks  from  Indians, 
who  might  aim  at  them  from  some  covert  in  the  woods,  and  the 


REBECCA  BOONE.  49 

men  never  left  home  without  carrying  their  rifles  and  knives.  The 
women  occasionally  ventured  a  short  distance  without  the  palisades 
in  the  day-time,  but  never  out  of  sight  of  the  fort. 

The  months  thus  passed  without  monotony  or  want  of  excite- 
ment ;  spring  opened,  the  trees  to  be  felled  were  girdled,  the  brush 
cut  down  and  burned,  preparations  made  for  ploughing  the  field, 
and  a  garden  spot  marked  off,  which,  when  the  virgin  earth  had 
been  thrown  up,  was  given  in  charge  to  Mrs.  Boone  and  her 
daughters.  They  had  brought  out  a  stock  of  seeds  from  the  old 
settlements,  and  went .  out  every  bright  day  to  plant  them.  The 
little  party  of  women  was  reinforced,  among  others,  by  the  daugh- 
ters of  Col.  Galloway,  a  friend  of  Boone,  who  had  brought  his 
family  to  the  station.  Their  fondness  for  possessing  themselves  of 
the  spoils  of  the  forest,  led  to  a  romantic  instance  of  the  peril  of  the 
times. 

A  little  daughter  of  Boone,  with  Galloway's  two,  was  captured 
by  Indians  the  7th  of  July.  Flint  says  they  were  gathering  flowers 
in  the  woods  when  the  savages  rushed  upon  them  ;  and  that  they 
were  not  missed  till  some  time  after  they  had  been  carried  off.  I 
copy  the  account  given  of  the  pursuit  of  Boone,  and  the  recovery  of 
the  captives,  by  Col.  Floyd,  an  actor  in  the  scene — in  preference 
to  other  narratives.  He  savs  the  ffirls  were  taken  out  of  a  canoe  in 

J  o 

the  river,  within  sight  of  Boonesborough.  "  The  affair  happened 
late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  spoilers  left  the  canoe  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  from  us,  which  prevented  our  getting  over  for  some 
time  to  pursue  them.  Next  morning  by  daylight  we  were  on  the 
track,  but  found  they  had  totally  prevented  our  following  them  by 
walking  some  distance  apart,  through  the  thickest  cane  they  could 
find.  We  observed  their  course,  and  on  which  side  we  had  left 
their  sign,  and  travelled  upwards  of  thirty  miles.  We  then  imagined 
that  they  would  be  less  cautious  in  travelling,  made  a  turn  in  order 
to  cross  their  trace,  and  had  not  gone  but  a  few  miles  before  we 
found  their  tracks  in  a  buffalo  path  ;  pursued  and  overtook  them  on 
going  about  ten  miles,  just  as  they  were  kindling  a  fire  to  cook. 
Our  study  had  been  *more  to  get  the  prisoners  without  giving  the 
3 


50  PIONEEK    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

Indians  time  to  murder  them  after  they  discovered  us,  than  to  kill 
the  savages.  We  discovered  each  other  nearly  at  the  same  time. 
Four  of  us  fired,  and  all  rushed  on  them,  which  prevented  their  car- 
rying anything  away,  except  one  shot  gun  without  ammunition. 
Mr.  Boone  and  myself  had  a  pretty  fair  shot  just  as  they  began  to 
move  off.  I  am  well  convinced  I  shot  one  through,  and  the  one  he 
shot  dropped  his  gun ;  mine  had  none.  The  place  was*  very  thick 
with  cane,  and  being  so  much  elated  on  recovering  the  three  little 
broken-hearted  girls,  prevented  our  making  any  further  search.  We 
sent  them  off  without  their  moccasins,  and  not  one  of  them  so  much 
as  a  knife  or  a  tomahawk."* 

With  the  commencement  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  the 
ravages  of  Indian  warfare  along  the  whole  line  of  border  settle- 
ments became  more  extensive  and  violent ;  British  influence  and 
resources  securing  the  savages  as  their  allies  along  the  frontier,  from 
the  north-eastern  part  of  Vermont  and  New  York  to  the  Mississippi. 
The  story  of  Boone's  life  is  interwoven  with  the  scenes  of  plunder, 
captivity,  burning  and  massacre,  which  swept  and  in  many  instances 
desolated  the  infant  colonies  of  the  north  and  west.  Yet  new  emi- 
grants came,  many  of  them  of  respectable  standing,  and  some  noted 
in  the  history  of  the  time.  Mrs.  McGary,  Mrs.  Hogan,  and  Mrs. 
Denton,  had  taken  up  their  residence  in  the  fort  at  Boonseborough. 
At  the  same  time  hordes  of  savages  crossed  the  Ohio  with  the  design 
of  extirpating  these  germs  of  social  establishments  in  the  Indian's 
favorite  hunting-ground,  and  in  numerous  detachments  spread  in 
every  direction  through  the  forest. 

But  the  increase  of  danger  did  not  drive  back  the  pioneers,  or 
prevent  still  further  reinforcements.  Those  who  first  ventured  into 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  had  come  in  small  parties,  but  on  their 
return  to  the  old  settlements  they  gathered  companies  of  their  friends 
and  connections,  old  and  young,  with  their  wives  and  children, 
flocks  and  herds,  resolved  on  emigration,  and  pledged  by  mutual 

*  See  Butler's  History  of  Kentucky.  Some  of  the  biographies  of  Boone 
state  that  he  went  alone  on  the  expedition.  Flint  "gives  a  beautiful  romance 
which  unfortuuately  has  been  contradicted  on. reliable  authority. 


KEBECCA   BOONE.  51 

necessity  to  stand  by  each  other  in  life  and  death.  There  was 
among  them  none  of  the  jealousy  and  want  of  unity  which  prevail, 
more  or  less,  among  their  descendants ;  yet  were  not  these  primi- 
tive hunters  assimilated  to  savages  in  their  habits,  but  possessing 
keen  and  strong  intellects  as  well  as  powerful  frames,  and  every 
qualification  for  social  life.  The  first  care  on  reaching  their  destina- 
tion was  to  select  a  spot  for  the  new  dwelling,  usually  chosen  on 
a  gently  elevated  ground  of  exuberant  fertility,  Vhere  trees  were 
sparse,  and  there  was  no  underbrush  to  prevent  the  hunter's  riding 
at  full  speed.  The  growth  of  cane,  wild  clover,  and  pawpaw 
marked  the  best  soil.  Cabins  being  put  up  for  immediate  use,  the 
little  settlement  was  converted  into  a  station.  For  this  purpose  it 
was  necessary  to  enclose  a  spring  or  well,  near  a  salt  lick  or  sugar 
orchard  if  practicable  ;  then  a  wide  space  must  be  cleared,  so  that 
the  enemy  could  not  approach  close  under  the  shelter  of  the  woods. 
The  station  was  to  overlook,  moreover,  as  much  of  the  country  as 
possible.  It  included  from  half  an  acre  to  an  acre  of  ground,  and 
the  trench  was  usually  dug  four  or  five  feet  deep  and  planted  with 
large  and  close  pickets,  forming  a  compact  wall  ten  or  twelve  feet 
above  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  pickets  were  of  hard  timber 
and  about  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  the  soil  around  them  was  rammed 
into  great  solidity.  At  the  angles  were  small  projecting  squares 
called  flunkers,  with  oblique  port-holes,  from  which  the  fire  of  sen- 
tinels within  could  rake  the  external  front  of  the  station ;  and  in 
front  and  rear  two  folding  gates  swung  on  enormous  wooden  hinges. 
The  gates  were  barred  every  night,  and  sentinels  posted  alternately, 
one  being1  stationed  on  the  roof  in  time  of  peculiar  danger.  These 
fortified  places  in  the  wilderness  had  their  clean  turfed  area  for 
dancing,  wrestling,  or  other  athletic  exercises ;  the  inmates  of  the 
fort  passed  their  evenings  sociably  together,  cheerful  fires  blazing 
within  the  enclosure,  and  suppers  of  venison  and  wild  turkeys, 
wild  fruits  and  maple  beer  were  enjoyed  with  double  relish  amid 
the  distant  howling  of  wolves,  or  the  Indian  warwhoop,  heard  like 
the  roar  of  the  dying  storm.  Such  was  Bryants  station  in  1782, 
the  nucleus  of  the  earliest  settlements  in  the  rich  and  lovely  country 


52  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

of  which  Lexington  is  the  centre — and  such  were  others  built  at 
that  period. 

The  captivity  of  Boone,  his  escape  and  return  to  Boonesborough, 
and  the  Indian  siege  of  that  station  in  1778 — the  last  it  sustained — 
belong  to  the  biography  of  the  renowned  woodsman,  not  to  this 
memoir.  When  during  a  long  interval  no  information  concerning 
Boone  could  be  obtained,  he  was  supposed  by  the  people  at  the 
garrison  and  his  family  to  have  fallen  a  victim  to  savage  vengeance. 
Mrs.  Boone,  believing  herself  widowed,  at  length  resolved,  with  her 
children,  to  leave  the  western  forests,"  and  return  to  the  banks  of  the 
Yadkin.  Kentucky,  she  said,  had  indeed  been  to  her  a  "  dark  and 
bloody  ground."  The  family  returned  to  their  friends  in  North 
Carolina,  nearly  five  years  having  elapsed  since  they  had  started 
with  the  first  party  of  emigrants  for  Kentucky.  The  friends  from 
whom  she  then  parted  had  heard  afterwards  of  their  disastrous 
encounter  with  the  Indians,  their  return  to  Clinch  River,  and  subse- 
quent residence  at  Boonesborough  ;  but  knew  nothing  of  their  further 
trials.  When  about  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1778,  these  pil- 
grims returning  from  the  western  wilds  were  seen  approaching  on 
pack-horses,  the  sight  caused  no  little  surprise  and  wonder  among 
the  dwellers  on  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin.  The  mother  wore  deep 
mourning,  and  her  dejected  countenance  showed  the  grief  that  had 
worn  her  strong  spirit ;  the  same  melancholy  was  evident  in  the 
faces  of  her  eldest  surviving  son,  and  the  daughter  who  had  been 
captured ;  the  other  children  being  too  young  to  feel  trial  or  change. 
The  travellers  were  clad  in  skins,  and  the  primitive  habiliments  of 
the  wilderness,  and  as  the  cavalcade  stopped  at  Mr.  Bryan's  house, 
the  neighbors  collected  to  learn  what  had  happened,  and  listen  with 
deep  interest  to  Mrs.  Boone's  relation  of  her  adventures  and 
sorrows. 

After  having  driven  the  enemy  from  Boonesborough,  Col. 
Boone  set  out  to  cross  the  Alleghanies  in  pursuit  of  his  wife  and 
children  ;  surmounting  with  iron  strength  of  endurance  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  way.  It  may  be  imagined  how  joyfully  his  return  was 
hailed  by  those  who  had  so  long  believed  him  dead.  They  returned 


REBECCA    BOONE.  53 

in  the  following*  summer  to  Boonesborough,  which,  enjoyed  tran- 
quillity as  the  country  became  more  thickly  settled.  Many  incidents 
of  interest  after  this  re-union,  in  which  Boone  was  prominent,  are  re- 
corded in  the  history  of  Kentucky,  but  do  not  pertain  to  this  sketch. 
One  connected  with  another  pioneer,  may  be  mentioned  as  illustrative. 
Benjamin  Logan,  who  had  brought  his  family  from  the  Hol- 
ston  to  Logan's  Fort,  in  March,  1776,  was  obliged  afterwards  to 
remove  them  for  safety  to  Harrodsburgh.  Before  the  attack  on 
Harrodsburgh  in  the  winter  of  1777,  he  returned  with  six  families 
to  the  cabins  he  had  built,  and  commenced  palisading  the  station. 
"  On  the  20th  of  May,  while  the  females  of  the  establishment  were 
milking  their  cows,  sustained  by  a  guard  of  their  husbands  and 
fathers,  the  whole  party  was  suddenly  assailed  by  a  large  body  of 
Indians,  concealed  in  a  canebrake.  One  man  was  killed  and  two 
wounded,  one  mortally,  the  other  severely.  The  remainder  reached 
the  interior  of  the  palisades  in  safety.  The  number  in  all  was  thirty, 
half  of  whom  were  women  and  children.  A  circumstance  was  now 
discovered  exceedingly  trying  to  such  a  benevolent  spirit  as  that  of 
Logan.  While  the  Indians  were  still  firing,  and  the  inmates  exulting 
in  their  safety  while  others  mourned  over  their  dead  and  wounded, 
it  was  perceived  that  one  of  the  wounded,  by  the  name  of  Harrison, 
was  still  alive,  and  exposed  every  moment  to  be  scalped.  All  this 
his  wife  and  family  could  discover  from  within.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
imagine  their  agonized  condition  and  piercing  lamentations.  Logan 
displayed  on  this  occasion  the  same  tender  compassion  and  insensi- 
bility to  danger,  that  characterised  his  friend  Boone  in  similar 
circumstances.  He  endeavored  to  rally  a  few  of  the  male  inmates 
of  the  place  to  join  him,  rush  out,  and  bring  the  wounded  man  within 
the  palisades.  But  so  obvious  was  the  danger,  so  forlorn  appeared 
the  enterprise,  that  no  one  could  be  found  disposed  to  volunteer  his 
aid,  except  a  single  individual  by  the  name  of  John  Martin.  When 
he  had  reached  the  gate,  the  wounded  man  raised  himself  partly 
erect  and  made  a  movement  as  if  trying  to  reach  the  fort  himself. 
On  this  Martin  desisted  from  the  enterprise  and  left  Logan  to  at- 
tempt it  alone.  He  rushed  forward  to  the  wounded  man,  who  made 


5-1:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

some  effort  to  crawl  onward  by  his  aid  ;.  but  weakened  by  the  loss  of 
blood,  and  the  anguish  of  his  wounds,  he  fainted,  and  Logan  taking 
him  in  his  arms,  bore  him  towards  the  fort.  A  shower  of  bullets  was 
discharged  at  them,  many  of  which  struck  the  palisades  close  to 
Logan's  head,  as  he  brought  the  wounded  man"  safe  within  the  gate, 
and  deposited  him  in  the  care  of  his  family. 

u  The  station,  at  this  juncture,  was  destitute  both  of  powder  and 
ball,  and  there  was  no  chance  of  supplies  nearer  than  Holston  ;  all 
intercourse  between  station  and  station  was  cut  off.  Without  am- 
munition the  fort  could  not  be  defended  against  the  Indians,  and  the 
question  was  how  to  obtain  a  supply  in  this  pressing  emergency. 
Capt.  Logan,  selecting  two  trusty  companions,  left  the  fort  by  night, 
evading  the  besieging  Indians,  reached  the  woods,  made  his  way 
in  safety  to  Holston,  procured  the  necessary  supplies  of  ammunition, 
and  packed  it  under  their  care  on  horseback,  giving  them  directions 
how  to  proceed.  He  then  left  them,  and  traversing  the  forest  by  a 
shorter  route  on  foot,  reached  the  fort  in  safety  ten  days  after  his 
departure.  The  Indians  still  kept  up  the  siege  with  unabated  per- 
severance, and  the  hopes  of  the  diminished  garrison  had  given  way 
to  despondency.  The  return  of  Logan  inspired  them  however  with 
renewed  confidence." 

We  select  another  narrative  in  detail,  to  convey  an  idea  of  Indian 
hostility  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  met  on  the 
other.  "  A  family  lived  on  Cooper's  run,  in  Bourbon  county,  con- 
sisting of  a  mother,  two  sons  of  mature  age,  a  widowed  daughter 
with  an  infant  in  her  arms,  two  grown  daughters,  and  a  daughter 
ten  years  old.  The  house  was  a  double  cabin.  The  two  grown 
daughters  and  the  smaller  girl  were  in  one  division,  and  the  rest  of 
the  family  in  the  other.  At  night  a  knocking  was  heard  at  the 
door  of  the  latter  division,  asking  in  good  English  and  the  customary 
Western  phrase :  *  Who  keeps  house  ?'  As  the  sons  went  to  open 
the  door,  the  mother  forbade  them,  affirming  that  the  persons  claim- 
ing admission  were  Indians.  The  young  men  sprang  to  their  guns ; 
and  the  Indians  finding  themselves  refused  admittance  at  the  door, 
made  an  effort  at  the  opposite  one.  That  door  they  soon  beat  open 


UKBECCA    BOONE.  .      55 

with  a  rail,  and  endeavored  to  take  the  three  girls  prisoners.  The 
little  girl  sprang  away,  and  might  have  escaped  in  the  darkness  and 
the  woods,  but  the  foolish  child  under  a  natural  impulse  ran  to  the 
other  door  and  cried  for  help.  The  brothers  within  it  may  be  sup- 
posed would  wish  to  go  forth  and  protect  the  feeble  and  terrified 
waller.  The  mother  taking  a  broader  view  of  duty,  forbade  them. 
The  savages  soon  hushed  the  cries  of  the  distressed  child  by  the 
merciless  tomahawk.  While  some  of  the  Indians  were  engaged  in 
murdering  this  child,  another  was  binding  one  of  the  grown  girls 
whom  he  had  captured,  the  other  young  woman  defending  herself 
with  a  knife  which  she  had  been  using  at  a  loom  at  the  moment  of 
attack.  The  intrepidity  she  displayed  was  unavailing.  She  killed 
one  Indian  and  was  herself  dispatched  by  another.  The  savages 
meanwhile  having  obtained  possession  of  one  half  the  house,  fired  it. 
The  persons  shut  up  in  the  other  half  had  now  no  other  alternative 
than  to  be  consumed  in  the  flames  rapidly  spreading  towards  them, 
or  to  go  forth  and  expose  themselves  to  the  murderous  tomahawks 
that  had  already  laid  three  of  the  family  in  their  blood.  The  Indians 
stationed  themselves  in  the  dark  angles  of  the  fence,  where,  by  the 
bright  glare  of  the  flames,  they  could  see  everything,  and  yet  remain 
themselves  unseen.  Here  they  could  make  a  sure  mark  of  all  that 
should  escape  from  within.  One  of  the  sons  took  charge  of  his  aged 
and  infirm  mother,  and  the  other  of  his  widowed  sister  and  her 
infant.  The  brothers  emerged  from  the  burning  ruins,  separated  and 
endeavored  to  spring  over  the  fence.  The  mother  was  shot  dead 
as  her  son  was  piously  helping  her  over,  the  other  brother  being 
killed  as  he  was  gallantly  defending  his  sister.  The  widowed  sister, 
her  infant  and  one  of  the  brothers  escaped  the  massacre  and  alarmed 
the  settlement.  Thirty  men,  commanded  by  Col.  Edwards,  arrived 
next  day  to  witness  the  appalling  spectacle  presented  around  the 
smoking  ruins  of  this  cabin.  Considerable  snow  had  fallen,  and  the 
Indians  were  obliged  to  leave  a  trail  which  easily  indicated  their  path. 
In  the  evening  of  that  day,  they  came  upon  the  expiring  body  of  the 
young  woman,  apparently  murdered  but  a  few  moments  before  their 
arrival ;  the  Indians  having  been  premonished  of  their  pursuit  by 


56  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE  WEST. 

the  barking  of  a  dog  that  followed  them.  The  white  men  overtook 
and  killed  two  of  the  savages  that  had  strayed  behind,  apparently  as 
voluntary  victims  to  secure  the  retreat  of  the  rest." 

After  numerous  perils  and  escapes,  and  great  services  to  the  coun- 
try, Boone  had  the  privilege  of  rejoicing  in  the  peace  that  followed 
the  defeat  of  the  northern  tribes  of  Indians  by  General  Wayne. 
His  perseverance  had  triumphed  over  all  obstacles,  and  the  kindred 
spirit  of  his  wife  had  aided  and  encouraged  him  in  his  various  ad- 
yentures,  whether  descending  the  Alleghanies,  tracing  the  course  of 
the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee,  roaming  through  the  forests  of 
Kentucky,  wandering  a  captive  through  the  wilderness  to  the  great 
lakes,  or  following  the  waters  of  the  Wabash,  Miamis,  and  Scioto* 
When  the  tide  of  emigration  had  poured  into  the  country,  and  dis- 
putes and  litigation  arose  as  to  the  ownership  of  land,  the  band  of 
p  rimitive  pioneers  was  dispersed,  and  Boone  moved  his  family  to  the 
woods  on  the  banks  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  having  heard  that  deer 
and  buffaloes  were  to  be  found  on  the  unsettled  lands  near  that 
river.  Their  home  was  for  some  years  near  Point  Pleasant ;  but 
game  was  not  so  abundant  as  could  be  desired,  and  the  report  of 
adventurers  returned  from  the  vast  prairies  and  unexplored  forests 
of  the  Missouri,  determined  Boone  once  more  to  flee  from  the 
encroaching  advance  of  civilization.  Taking  up  his  rifle  and  light 
luggage,  he  set  out  with  the  faithful  companion  of  his  wanderings 
and  their  children,  driving  their  stock  -before  them,  and  passed 
through  Cincinnati  in  1798,  They  settled  in  St.  Charles  County, 
about  forty  miles  above  St.  Louis.  After  Missouri  had  come  under 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  the  tide  of  emigration  and 
enterprise  again  swept  by  the  dwelling  of  our  pioneers,  driving  off 
the  game,  and  changing  the  hunting  grounds  into  farms.  A  fol- 
lower too,  even  more  sure  to  overtake  them,  came  on  apace  ;  old  age 
with  its  consequent  infirmities.  Mrs.  Boone  died  in  March  1813. 
A  most  faithful  and  efficient  helpmeet  had  she  proved  to  the  pioneer, 
possessing  the  same  energy,  heroism,  and  firmness  which  he  had 
shown  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  his  eventful  career,  with  the  gentler 
qualities  by  which  woman,  as  the  centre  of  the  domestic  system, 


REBECCA    BOONT2.  57 

diffuses  happiness  and  trains  her  children  to  become  useful  and  hon- 
ored in  after  life.  Having  shared  willingly  in  the  hardships,  labors 
and  dangers  of  those  adventurers  whose  names  live  in  grateful  re- 
membrance, she  is  entitled  to  some  portion  of  the  renown  that  has 
embalmed  them. 

An  anecdote  or  two  illustrative  of  the  insecurity  of  families  in 
those  days,  and  of  the  horrors  undescribed  in  most  cases,  may  not 
be  inappropriate  before  closing  this  memoir.  In  the  spring  of  1780, 
Alexander  McConnel,  who  lived  at  Lexington,  then  a  small  cluster 
of  cabins,  having  killed  a  buck  in  the  woods,  went  home  for  a  horse, 
and  returning,  was  seized  and  carried  off  by  five  Indians.  After 
several  days'  travel,  when  they  reached  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  they 
omitted  the  precaution  of  binding  him  closely  one  night,  merely 
tying  the  buffalo  tug  around  his  wrists,  and  fastening  it  to  their 
bodies  ;  and  he  resolved  on  making  his  escape.  About  midnight, 
casting  his  eyes  in  the  direction  of  his  feet,  they  fell  on  the  glittering 
blade  of  a  knife  which  had  escaped  its  sheath,  and  was  lying  near 
the  feet  of  one  of  the  Indians.  He  could  not  reach  it  with  his 
hands,  but  with  some  difficulty  grasped  the  blade  between  his  toes, 
and  drew  it  within  reach.  He  then  cut  his  cords,  and  silently  extri- 
cated himself  from  his  captors ;  but  he  knew  it  would  be  necessary 
to  kill  them,  to  avoid  pursuit  and  certain  death.  After  anxious 
reflection,  his  plan  was  formed,  and  carefully  removing  the  guns  of 
the  Indians,  which  were  stacked  near  the  fire,  and  hiding  them  in 
the  woods,  he  took  two,  and  returning  to  the  spot  where  his  ene- 
mies were  still  sleeping,  he  placed  the  muzzles  of  each  on  a  log 
within  six  feet  of  his  victims,  and  pulled  both  triggers.  Both  shots 
were  fatal ;  he  then  ran  to  secure  one  of  the  other  rifles,  and  fired 
at  two  of  the  savages,  standing  in  a  line,  killing  one  and  wounding 
the  other,  who  limped  off  into  the  forest.  The  fifth  darted  off  like 
a  deer,  with  a  yell  of  astonishment  and  terror.  McConnel  not 
wishing  to  fight  any  more  such  battles,  selected  his  own  rifle  from 
the  stack,  and  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  Lexington.  A  Mrs. 
Dunlap,  who  had  been  several  months  a  prisoner  among  the  Indians 
on  Mad  River,  soon  afterwards  came  to  the  same  place,  having 
3* 


58  -    PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

made  her  escape,  and  reported  that  the  survivor  had  returned  to 
his  tribe  with  a  lamentable  tale  of  an  attack  by  a  large  party  of 
white  men,  who  had  killed  the  poor  bound  prisoners,  as  well  as  his 
companions  !* 

An  adventure  of  a  different  kind  befel  McKinley,  a  school  teacher, 
in  the  following  year.  While  sitting  alone  at  his  desk,  he  heard  a 
slight  noise  at  the  door,  and  saw  an  enormous  wild  cat.  He  rose  to 
snatch  up  a  cylindrical  rule  to  defend  himself,  but  the  creature 
darted  upon  him,  tore  his  clothes  from  his  side,  and  buried  her  claws 
and  teeth  in  his  flesh.  He  threw  himself  on  the  edge  of  the  table, 
and  pressed  the  assailant  against  its  sharp  corner  with  all  his  force. 
Her  cries,  mingled  with  his  own,  now  alarmed  the  neighbors,  and 
after  a  few  moments  the  dead  animal  was  disengaged  from  her  prey, 
though  her  tusks  were  dislodged  with  some  difficulty  from  between 
his  ribs. 

In  the  beginning  of  1794,  a  party  of  Indians  killed  George  Mason^ 
on  Flat  Creek,  twelve  miles  from  Knoxville.  In  the  night  he  heard  a 
noise  in  his  stable,  and  stepped  out ;  was  intercepted  before  he  could 
return,  by  the  savages,  and  fled,  but  was  fired  upon  and  wounded. 
He  reached  a  cave,  from  which  he  was  dragged  out  and  murdered,  and 
the  Indians  returned  to  the  house  to  despatch  his  wife  and  children. 
Mrs.  Mason  heard  them  talking  as  they  approached,  and  hoped  her 
neighbors,  aroused  by  the  firing,  had  come  to  her  assistance.  But 
perceiving  that  the  conversation  was  neither  in  English  nor  German, 
she  knew  they  were  enemies.  She  had  that  very  morning  learned 
how  to  set  the  double  trigger  of  a  rifle.  Fortunately  the  children 
were  not  awakened,  and  she  took  care  not  to  disturb  them.  She 
had  shut  the  door,  barred  it  with  benches  and  tables,  and  taking 
down  her  husband's  well  charged  rifle,  placed  herself  directly  oppo- 
site the  opening  which  would  be  made  by  forcing  the  door.  Her 
husband  came  not,  and  she  was  but  too  well  convinced  he  had 
been  slain.  She  was  alone  in  darkness,  and  the  yelling  savages 
were  pressing  on  the  house.  Pushing  with  great  violence,  they 
gradually  opened  the  door  wide  enough  to  attempt  an  entrance,  and 
*  McClung's  Sketches  of  Western  Adventure. 


REBECCA   BOONE.  59 

the  body  of  one  was  thrust  into  the  opening  and  filled  it,  two  or 
three  more  urging  him  forward.  Mrs.  Mason  set  the  trigger  of  the 
rifle,  put  the  muzzle  near  the  body  of  the  foremost,  and  fired.  The 
first  Indian  fell ;  the  next  uttered  the  scream  of  mortal  agony.  The 
intrepid  woman  observed  profound  silence,  and  the  savages  were  led 
to  believe  that  armed  men  were  in  the  house.  They  withdrew, 
took  three  horses  from  the  stable,  and  set  it  on  fire.  It  was  after- 
wards ascertained  that  this  high-minded  woman  had  saved  herself 
and  children  from  the  attack  of  twenty-five  assailants. 

The  opportunity  seems  favorable  to  notice  the  spirit  and  manners 
of  those  primitive  times  of  Kentucky  history.  After  the  period  of 
the  attack  on  Bryant's  Station,  and  the  disastrous  battle  of  the  Blue 
Licks,  which  took  place  on  the  18tfi  of  August,  1782,  notwithstand- 
ing the  dangers  which  surrounded  the  settlements,  they  began  to 
have  more  of  the  aspect  of  communities.  The  proportion  of  women, 
•which  had  hitherto  been  so  small,  became  larger,  and  a  license  to 
marry  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  process  issued  by  the  clerks  of 
the  new  counties.  The  first  settlers  having  generally  been  composed 
of  those  who  had  braved  the  perils  of  settling  the  frontiers  of  the 
adjacent  states,  their  helpmates  were  accustomed  to  labor  and  hard- 
ship. The  duties  of  the  household  were  discharged  by  the  females. 

"  They  milked  the  cows,  prepared  the  meats,  spun  and  wove  the 
garments  of  their  husbands  and  children ;  while  the  men  hunted 
the  game  of  the  woods,  cleared  the  land,  and  planted  the  grain. 
To  grind  the  Indian  corn  into  meal  on  the  rude  and  laborious  hand- 
mill,  or  to  pound  it  into  hominy  in  a  mortar,  was  occasionally  the 
work  of  either  sex.  The  defence  of  the  country,  the  building  of 
forts  and  cabins,  fell  most  properly  to  the  share  of  the  men  ;  though 
in  those  hardy  times,  it  was  not  at  all  uncommon  for  females,  during 
a  siege,  to  run  bullets  and  neck  them  for  the  rifle.  Deer  skins  were 
extensively  used  for  dress,  to  compose  the  hunting  shirt,  the  Jong 
overalls,  the  leggins,  and  the  soft  and  pliable  moccasins  ;  the  buffalo 
and  bear  furnished  the  principal  covering  for  the  night.  Handker 
chiefs  tied  round  the  head,  often  supplied  the  place  of  hats ;  strips 
of  buffalo  hide  were  used  for  ropes.  Stores  or  shops  were  unknown  ; 


60  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

wooden  vessels  either  prepared  by  the  turner,  the  cooper,  or  their 
rude  representatives  in  the  woods,  were  the  common  substitutes  for 
table  furniture.  A  tin  cup  was  an  article  of  delicate  luxury  almost 
as  rare  as  an  iron  fork.  Every  hunter  carried  a  knife,  too  aptly 
called  a  scalping  knife,  in  the  hands  of  the  white  man  as  well  as 
in  those  of  the  Indian;  and  one  or  two  knives  would  compose  the 
cutlery  of  families.  The  furniture  of  the  cabin  was  appropriate  to 
the  habitation  ;  the  table  was  made  of  a  slab,  or  thick,  flat  piece  of 
timber,  split  and  roughly  hewn  with  the  axe,  with  legs  prepared  in 
the  same  manner.  This  latter  instrument  was  the  principal  tool  in 
all  mechanical  operations,  and  with  the  adze,  the  auger,  and  above 
all,  the  rifle,  composed  the  richest  mechanical  assortment  of  Ken- 
tucky. Stools  of  the  same  material  and  manufacture,  filled  the 
place  of  chairs.  When  some  one  more  curiously  nice  than  his 
neighbors,  chose  to  elevate  his  bed  above  the  floor  (often  the  naked 
ground),  it  was  placed  on  slabs  laid  across  poles  which  were  again 
supported  by  forks  driven  into  the  floor.  If,  however,  the  floor 
happened  to  be  so  luxurious  as  to  be  made  of  puncheons  (another 
larger  sort  of  slabs),  the  bedstead  became  hewed  pieces,  let  into  the 
sides  of  the  cabin  by  auger  holes  in  the  logs.  The  cradle  of  these 
times  was  a  small  rolling  trough,  much  like  what  is  called  the  sugar 
trough,  used  to  receive  the  sap  of  the  sugar  maple.  Still  the  food 
in  these  rude  habitations,  and  with  this  rough  and  inartificial  furni- 
ture, was  the  richest  milk  and  finest  butter  furnished  by  the  luxu- 
riant pasture  of  the  woods,  covered  with  the  rich  pea  vine  and  the 
luscious  cane.  The  game  of  the  country,  it  has  been  already  seen, 
struck  the  experienced  eye  of  even  Boone  as  profuse  beyond  mea- 
sure ;  it  was  the  theme  of  admiration  to  evrery  hunter ;  nor  did  the 
abundance  afford  slight  assistance  to  the  whites  in  their  conquest  of 
the  land.  The  enemy  would  never  have  permitted  provisions  to 
have  been  transported,  or  to  have  grown  by  the  slow  and  peaceable 
processes  of  farming ;  and  the  consequence  must  have  been  that 
the  stations  would  have  been  starved  into  surrender,  but  for  the  pro- 
vidential supply  of  the  deer,  the  buffalo,  and  the  bear.  These  were 
to  be  obtained  by  every  gallant  rifleman ;  and  this  so  abundantly 


ANNA  INNIS.  61 

that  the  buffalo  has  often  been  shot  in  order  to  enjoy  either  its 
hump  or  its  tongue.  The  hospitality  of  these  times  was  much  less 
a  merit  than  an  enjoyment;  often  a  protection  to  both  parties. 
The  fare  wa's  rough,  but  heartily  and  generously  divided  with  every 
fellow-woodsman.'1* 

Generosity,  hardihood,  bravery,  and  endurance  of  suffering,  were 
prominent  and  undeniable  features  in  the  character  of  these  first 
settlers.  But  the  female  sex,  though  certainly  an  object  of  more 
regard  than  among  the  Indians,  had  to  endure  much  hardship,  and 
occupy  a  rank  inferior  to  the  male  partner,  among  the  earliest  emi- 
grants, the  state  of  society  exercising  high  physical  qualities 
rather  than  mental  or  artificial  endowments. 


ANNA  INNIS,  widow  of  Hon.  Henry  Innis,  and  mother  of  Mrs. 
J.  J.  Crittenden,  died  at  Cedar  Hill,  near  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  May 
12th,  1851.  This  lady  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Kentucky,  and  has 
been  the  pride  of  her  State  and  an  ornament  to  the  country.  Her 
early  days  were  spent  in  the  wilderness,  and  yet  in  the  society  of 
such  men  as  Clarke,  Wayne,  Shelby,  Scott,  Boone,  Henderson, 
Logan,  Hart,  Nicholas,  Murray,  Allen,  Breckenridge,  and  all  the 
great  and  heroic  spirits  of  the  West.  She  saw  Washington  as  he 
led  his  broken  army  through  the  Jerseys,  and  as  he  returned  in 
triumph  from  Yorktown.  Of  this  remarkable  woman  the  Frankfort 
Commonwealth  says : 

"  Her  tenacious  memory  retained  all  she  had  seen,  and  she  be- 
came the  chronicler  of  her  own  times,  and  interwove  her  narrative 
with  traditions  of  the  past.  Providence  had  been  kind  in  all  his 
dealings  with  her.  He  had  blest  her  with  a  strong  mind  and  con- 
stitution, and  with  great  cheerfulness  and  courage.  He  had  blessed 
her  in  her  '  basket  and  her  store.'  He  had  blessed  her  in  her  chil- 
dren, and  at  last  wh^n  the  message  came,  having  borne  all  the  trials 
of  a  long  and  eventful  life  with  heroic  firmness,  she  died  in  the  full 
communion  and  fellowship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which 
she  had  been  long  an  exemplary  member." 
*  Butler's  Kentucky. 


62  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

Another  of  the  eminent  daughters  of  Kentucky  was  the  mother 
of  Gen.  Leslie  Combs,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Richardson. 
She  was  of  a  respectable  Quaker  family  of  Maryland,  connected  by 
blood  with  the  Thomases  and  Snowdens.  Leslie,  the  youngest  of 
twelve  children,  was  just  eighteen  when  he  started  as  a  volunteer  to 
join  the  Kentucky  troops  ordered  to  the  northern  frontier,  under 
Gen.  Winchester,  in  1812.  Two  of  his  elder  brothers  had 
previously  entered  the  service,  and  with  earnest  entreaties  he 
prevailed  on  his  parents  to  let  him  go,  setting  forward  alone  a  few 
weeks  after  the  army  had  marched.  "  I  shall  never  forget,"  were 
his  words  in  after  years,  "  the  parting  scene  with  my  beloved  and 
venerated  mother,  in  which  she  reminded  me  of  my  father's  history, 
and  her  own  trials  and  dangers  in  the  early  settlement  of  Kentucky, 
and  closed  by  saying  to  me  '  as  I  had  resolved  to  become  a  soldier, 
I  must  never  disgrace  my  parents  by  running  from  danger  ;  but  die 
rather  than  fail  to  do  my  duty.1  This  injunction  was  ever  present 
to  me  afterwards  in  the  midst  of  dangers  and  difficulties  of  which  I 

o 

had  then  formed  no  idea,  and  stimulated  me  to  deeds  I  might 
otherwise,  perhaps,  have  hesitated  to  undertake  or  perform." 

The  residence  of  Mrs.  Combs,  after  her  removal  from  the  picketed 
station  where  she  first  lived  in  Kentucky,  was  on  a  farm  about  six 
miles  from  Boonesborough.  The  family  suffered  much  from  the 
depredations  of  the  Indians  who  then  infested  the  country  from  the 
Ohio  to  the  Tennessee.  Mrs.  Combs'  ridino-  horse  was  shot  clown 

o 

under  her  eldest  son  while  he  and  his  father  were  on  a  trapping 
excursion  within  two  or  three  miles  of  home.  They  did  not  return 
as  soon  as  expected,  and  the  mother  was  left  alone  in  the  cabin  with 
two  or  three  little  children,  a  prey  to  the  most  agonizing  apprehen- 
sions. It  was  through  her  industry  and  energy  that  her  children 
were  enabled  to  obtain  a  better  education  than  was  usual  in  the 
country  in  those  days.  This  fact  is  mentioned  in  the  inscription  on 
lier*tombstone,  which  stands  on  the  farm  where  they  lived  and  died, 
alongside  of  that  inscribed  with  the  name  of  her  husband,  recorded 
as  "  a  Revolutionary  officer  and  a  Hunter  of  Kentucky." 
.  NOTE.— See  page  428. 


IV. 

CHARLOTTE    ROBERTSON. 

CHARLOTTE  REEVES  was  the  second  daughter  of  George  Reeves  and 
Mary  Jordan,  and  was  born  in  Northampton  County,  N.  C.,  in  Jan- 
nary  1751.  Her  parents  were  poor  in  worldly  possessions,  and  were 
able  to  give  their  children  only  a  limited  education  ;  but  they  trained 
them  to  labor  and  habits  of  systematic  industry,  and  in  those  strict 
principles  which  guided  and  preserved  their  parents  through  life, 
and  made  their  example  useful.  Soon  after  the  marriage  of  Char- 
lotte with  James  Robertson,  the  young  couple  crossed  the  mountains 
and  fixed  their  abode  in  one  of  the  new  settlements  on  the  Watauga 
or  Hols  ton  River. 

In  1779,  Robertson  went  with  some  others*  to  explore  the 
Cumberland  Valley,  leaving  his  family  behind.  They  explored 
the  country  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  spot  where  Nashville 
now  stands,  planted  there  a  field  of  corn,  and  leaving  three  of  the 
party  to  keep  the  buffaloes  out  of  the  corn,  returned  to  East 
Tennessee  for  their  families.  The  fame  of  the  fertile  Cumberland 
lands,  the  salubrity  of  the  air,  the  excellence  of  the  water,  and  the 
abundance  of  game  of  all  sorts,  was  soon  diffused  through  all  the 
frontier  settlements,  and  many  took  the  resolution  of  emigrating 
to  this  land  of  plenty.  Companies  came  and  built  cabins  and  block 
houses,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  February  or  first  of  March  1780, 


64  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE  WEST. 

Mrs.  Robertson  left  her  home  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Creek  on  the 
Holston,  for  the  purpose  of  joining  her  husband.  Her  party  con- 
sisted of  herself  and  four  small  children,  her  brother  William 
Beeves,  Charles  Robertson  her  husband's  brother,  her  sister-in-law, 
and  three  little  nieces,  with  two  white  men  servants,  a  negro  woman 
and  her  infant.  These  voyagers  were  conveyed  in  two  of  the  small 
and  frail  flat-boats  appointed  to  convey  the  families  of  emigrants  to 
their  new  homes  in  the  wilderness.  Capt.  James  Robertson  was  to 
head  the  party  travelling  by  land  through  Kentucky  to  the  same 
point  of  destination,  and  driving  the  cattle  belonging  to  the  little 
colony  ;  and  had  left  home  some  weeks  previously,  with  his  eldest 
son,  fourteen  years  of  age.  Those  who  went  by  water  descended 
the  north  fork  of  the  Holston,  and  proceeded  down  Tennessee 
River.  The  various  difficulties  they  encountered,  the  perils  and 
fatigues  of  this  tedious  and  dangerous  trip,  were  more  numerous 
that  it  is  now  possible  to  detail.  At  the  mouth  of  Duck  River  they 
expected  to  land  and  make  their  way  through  the  wilderness  to  the 
"  Cumberland  County,"  but  the  guides  failing  to  meet  them,  they 
continued  their  voyage  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee.  At  this 
point  their  difficulties  were  fearfully  increased.  The  ice  was  just 
broken  up  in  the  Ohio,  the  water  was  rising,  and  the  aspect  of  things 
appeared  so  discouraging  to  their  pilot,  that  he  abandoned  the  enter- 
prise in. despair,  and  left  the  company  to  make  their  way  in  the  best 
manner  possible  up  the  river,  having  to  ascend  against  a  rapid  cur- 
rent, with  clumsy  and  scarcely  manageable  boats,  some  two  hundred 
miles.  The  emigrants  were  worn  out  and  disheartened  with  the 
toil  of  the  voyage  already  accomplished,  the  men  were  strangers  to 
the  navigation  of  the  Ohio,  which  flowed  for  the  most  part 
through  an  unbroken  forest,  infested  on  either  side  with  wild 
beasts  and  more  merciless  Indians;  their  lives  seemed  endan- 
gered at  every  step,  and  so  dreary  was  the  prospect,  that  about 
one  half  the  company  decided  against  pursuing  the  enterprise, 
bade  adieu  to  their  companions,  and  shoving  their  boats  into 
the  smooth  current  of  the  Ohio,  sought  homes  for  thoir  families  in 
Natchez.  The  others  turned  their  bows  up  the  river.  Of  Mrs. 


CHARLOTTE    ROBERTSON.  65 

Robertson's  party  only  two  men  were  left,  her  brother  and  brother- 
in-law.  They  lashed  the  two  boats  together ;  Mrs.  Johnson,  the 
widowed  sister  of  Capt.  Robertson,  undertook  to  serve  as  pilot,  and 
managed  the  steering  oar,  while  Mrs.  Robertson  and  Hagar,  the 
African  woman,  worked  at  the  side  oars  alternately  with  Reeves  and 
Robertson.  By  this  tedious  and  laborious  progress,  they  made  their 
way  up  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland,  and  up  the 
Cumberland  to  the  point  of  destination,  landing  in  the  beginning  of 
April  at  the  site  of  Nashville. 

Hay  wood,  in  his  history  of  Tennessee,  describes  the  voyage  made 
by  "The  Adventure"  and  other  boate,  which,  leaving  the  fort  on  the 
Holston  the  22d  of  December,  1779,  did  not  reach  the  "Big  Salt 
Lick"  till  the  latter  part  of  April.  An  extract  may  give  an  idea  of 
the  perils  of  the  expedition.  In  passing  Indian  villages  on  the 
Tennessee,  the  voyagers  had  been  accosted  by  many  of  the  savages 
with  professions  of  friendship,  designed  to  cover  a  hostile  purpose! 

"  In  a  short  time  the  crew  came  in  sight  of  another  town,  situated 
on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  nearly  opposite  a  small  island.  Here 
also  the  Indians  invited  those  on  board  to  come  on  shore,  calling 
them  brothers,  and  seeing  the  boats  standing  to  the  opposite  side^ 
told  the  passengers  that  their  side  was  the  best  for  the  boats  to  pass 
the  island  on.  A  young  man  on  board  the  boat  of  Capt.  John 
Blackmore,  approaching  too  near  the  shore,  was  shot  in  the  boat 
from  the  shore.  Mr.  Stewart  had  set  off  in  a  boat  on  board  which 
were  blacks  and  whites  to  the  number  of  twenty-eight.  His  family 
being  diseased  with  the  small  pox,  it  was  agreed  that  he  should 
keep  at  some  distance  in  the  rear.  He  was  to  be  informed  each 
night  where  the  others  lay  by  the  sound  of  a  horn.  The  foremost 
boats  having  passed  the  town,  the  Indians  collected  in  considerable 
numbers.  Seeing  him  far  behind,  they  intercepted  him  in  their 
canoes,  and  killed  and  made  prisoners  the  whole  crew.  The  crews 
of  the  other  boats  were  not  able  to  relieve  him,  being  alarmed  for 
their  own  safety,  for  they  perceived  large  bodies  of  Indians  march- 
ing on  foot  down  the  river,  keeping  pace  with  the  boats,  till  tho 
Cumberland  mountain  covered  them  from  view.  The  boats  were 


66  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   TIIE   WEST. 

now  arrived  at  the  place  called  the  Whirl  or  Suck,  where  the  river 
is  compressed  into  less  than  half  its  common  width,  by  the  Cumber- 
land mountain  jutting  into,  .it  on  both  sides.  In  passing  through 
the  upper  pail  of  these  narrows,  at  a  place  termed  the  Boiling  Pot, 
a  man  of  the  name  of  John  Cotton  was  descending  the  river  in  a 
canoe  with  a  small  family,  and  had  attached  it  to  Robert  Cart- 
wright's  boat,  into  which  he  and  his  family  had  entered  for  safety. 
The  canoe  was  here  overturned,  and  the  little  cargo  lost.  The  movers 
pitying  his  distress,  concluded  to  land  and  assist  him  in  recovering 
his  property.  Having  landed  on  the  north  shore  at  a  level  spot 
they  began  to  go  towards  the  place  where  the  misfortune  had  hap- 
pened, when  the  Indians,  to  their  astonishment,  appeared  on  the 
opposite  cliffs,  and  commenced  firing  down  upon  them.  The  Indians 
continued  their  fire  from  heights  upon  the  boats.  In  the  boat  of 
Mr.  Gower  was  his  daughter  Nancy.  When  the  crew  were  thrown 
into  disorder  and  dismay,  she  took  the  helm,  and  steered  the  boat, 
exposed  to  all  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  A  ball  passed  through  her 
clothes,  and  penetrated  the  upper  part  of  her  thigh,  going  out  on 
the  opposite  side.  It  was  not  discovered  that  she  was  wounded  by 
any  complaint  she  made,  or  a  word  she  uttered,  but  after  the  dan- 
ger was  over,  her  mother  discovered  the  blood  flowing  through  her 
clothes." 

Reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  the  20th  of  March,  they 
parted  with  their  companions  who  were  discouraged  from  proceed- 
ing, and  the  Adventure,  with  the  boats  which  accompanied  her,  went 
up  the  Ohio.  "  They  made  but  little  way  on  that  day,  and  en- 
camped on  the  south  bank  of  the  Ohio,  suffering  on  that  and  the 
two  following  days  much  uneasiness  from  hunger  and  fatigue.  On 
the  24th  of  March,  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  Cumberland  River, 
but  its  size  was  so  much  less  than  they  had  expected  to  find  it,  that 
some  would  not  believe  it  to  be  the  Cumberland.  It  flowed  in  a 
gentle  current ;  they  had  heard  of  no  river  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Ohio,  between  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland,  and  they  determined 
to  go  up  this  as  the  Cumberland,  and  did  so.  On  the  25th,  the 
river  seemed  to  grow  wider ;  the  current  was  very  gentle,  and  they 


CHARLOTTE   ROBERTSON.  67 

were  now  convinced  it  was  the  Cumberland.  The  crews  were  now 
without  bread,  and  were  obliged  to  hunt  the  buffalo,  and  feed  on 
his  flesh.  On  the  24th  of  April,  1780,  they  came  to  the  Big  Salt 
Lick,  where  they  found  Capt.  James  Robertson  and  his  company, 
and  where  they  were  gratified  at  meeting  those  friends  whom,  but  a 
little  before,  it  was  doubtful  whether  they  should  ever  see  again. 
They  also  found  a  few  log  cabins,  erected  by  Capt.  Robertson  and  his 
associates,  on  a  cedar  bluff,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  at  some 
distance  from  the  Salt  Spring." 

For  years  after  their  removal  the  families  of  the  settlement  suf- 
fered many  privations,  and  were  compelled  to  live  most  of  the  time 
within  the  shelter  of  the  forts,  being  subjected  to  ferocious  attacks 
by  the  Indians.  Two  of  Mrs.  Robertson's  sons  were  murdered  by 
.  the  savages.  It  was  indeed  a  constant  scene  of  anxiety  and  danger 
to  the  close  of  the  Indian  war  in  1794,  and  the  frequent  alarms, 
and  incidents  of  persons  being  killed  or  wounded  at  or  near  the  fort 
occupied  by  our  heroine,  gave  her  full  experience  of  all  the  horrors 
of  war.  At  one  time  she  had  the  agony  of  seeing  brought  in  from 
the  adjoining  woods  the  headless  body  of  a  beloved  son ;  and  it 
cannot  be  wondered  at  that  she  was  heard  to  say  in  after  life — she 
would  not  live  those  years  over  again  to  be  insured  the  possession  of 
the  world. 

"  In  the  year  1782,  and  for  several  years  afterwards,  the  common 
custom  of  the  country  was,  for  one  or  two  persons  to  stand  as  watch- 
men or  sentinels,  whilst  others  labored  in  the  field  ;  and  even  whilst 
one  went  to  a  spring  to  drink,  another  stood  on  the  watch  with  his 
gun  ready  to  give  him  protection  by  shooting  a  creeping  Indian,  or 
one  rising  from  the  thicket  of  canes  and  brush,  that  covered  him 
from  view  ;  and  wherever  four  or  five  were  assembled  together  at  a 
spring  or  other  place  where  business  required  them  to  be,  they  held 
their  guns  in  their  hands,  and  with  their  backs  turned  to  each  other, 
one  faced  the  north,  another  the  south,  another  the  west,  watching 
in  all  directions  for  a  lurking  or  creeping  enemy.  While  the  people 
were  so  much  harassed  and  galled  by  the  Indians  that  they  could 
not  plant  and  cultivate  their  corn-fields,  a  proposition  was  made  in  a 


68  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

council  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  bluff,  to  break  up  the  settlement 
and  go  off.  Capt.  Robertson  pertinaciously  resisted  this  proposition ; 
it  was  then  impossible  to  get  to  Kentucky ;  the  Indians  were  in 
force  upon  all  the  roads  and  passages  which  led  thither ;  for  the 
same  reason  it  was  equally  impracticable  to  remove  to  the  settle- 
ments on  the  Holston.  No  other  means  of  escape  remained  but  that 
of  going  down  the  river  in  boats,  and  making  good  their  retreat  to  the 
Illinois ;  and  to  this  plan  great  obstacles  were  opposed,  for  how  was 
the  wood  to  be  obtained  with  which  to  make  the  boats?  The 
Indians  were  every  day  in  the  skirte  of  the  bluff,  lying  concealed 
among  the  shrubs,  privy  and  cedar  trees,  ready  to  inflict  death  upon 
whoever  should  attempt  to  go  to  the  woods  to  procure  timber  for 
building  a  boat.  These  difficulties  were  all  stated  by  Capt.  Robert- 
son ;  he  held  out  the  dangers  attendant  on  the  attempt  on  the 
one  hand ;  the  fine  country  they  were  about  to  possess  themselves 
of  on  the  other ;  the  probability  of  new  acquisitions  of  numbers 
from  the  interior  settlements,  and  the  certainty  of  being  able,  by  a 
careful  attention  to  circumstances,  to  defend  themselves  till  succor 
could  arrive.  Finally,  their  apprehensions  were  quieted,  and  gra- 
dually they  relinquished  the  design  of  evacuating  the  positions  they 
occupied."* 

The  following  extract  from  a  "  Talk  "  from  "  The  Glass,"  a  Chero- 
kee chief,  to  Gov.  Blount,  dated  "  Look-out  Mountain,"  Sept.  10th, 
1792,  may  show  something  of  the  state  of  feeling  prevalent  between 
the  hostile  parties. 

"  Codeatoy  returned  here  from  the  treaty  at  Nashville,  and  tells 
us  that  Col.  Robertson  said  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of  blood 
spilled  in  his  settlement,  and  that  he  would  come  and  sweep  it  clean 
with  our  blood.  This  caused  our  young  warriors  to  assemble  to- 
gether to  meet  him,  as  he  told  Codeatoy  that  the  first  mischief  that 
should  be  done,  he  would  come ;  and  we  knew  of  course  it  would 
not  be  long  before  something  might  happen,  as  there  are  Creeks 
daily  going  to  that  settlement ;  and  as  they  expect  to  suffer  for  the 
doings  of  others,  they  resolved  they  would  meet  him,  or  go  to  the 
*  Haywood. 


CHARLOTTE   ROBERTSON.  69 

settlements  and  do  mischief,  as  they  were  to  be  the  sufferers,  do  it 
who  would.  But  with  the  assistance  of  Bloody  Fellow,  John  Watts, 
and  some  other  head  men,  we  have  sent  them  to  their  different 
homes,  and  to  mind  their  hunting,  in  hopes  you  will  not  suffer  any 
of  your  people  to  send  any  more  threatening  talks.  We  took  pity 
upon  the  innocent  that  might  suffer  on  both  sides,  which  undoubt- 
edly would  have  been  the  case.  As  I  have  always  listened  to  your 
talks,  I  hope  you  will  listen  to  mine,  and  have  peace."* 

Gov.  Blount  writes  to  Gen.  Robertson,  March  8th,  1794  : 

"  Your  letter  of  6th  Feb.,  sent  express  by  James  Russell,  was 
handed  to  me  much  stained  with  his  blood  by  Mr.  Shannon,  who 
accompanied  him.  Russell  was  wounded  by  a  party  of  Indians  who 
ambuscaded  him  about  eighteen  miles  from  South  West  Point, 
which  he  with  difficulty  reached,  and  was  obliged  to  continue  there 
for  several  days  before  he  could  be  removed.  He  is  now  in  the  hands 
of  a  skilful  surgeon,  and  it  is  hoped  will  recover.  His  fifty  dollars 
have  been  dearly  earned  ;  but  instead  of  complaining,  he  may  rejoice 
that  he  has  so  often  escaped."f 

In  a  letter  from  John  McKee  to  "  The  Glass"  and  other  chiefs 
of  the  lower  towns  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  he  speaks  of  an  expecta- 
tion on  their  part  that  he  would  meet  them  on  the  middle  ground 
for  a  "  ball  play."  This  was  a  national  game,  by  which  parties 
sometimes  decided  their  claims  io  disputed  land.  It  was  a  manly 
sport  often  witnessed  by  assembled  thousands. 

The  following  description  of  the  game  is  furnished  by  a  gentleman 
of  Nashville,  who  has  lived  among  the  Indians. 

The  contending  parties  always  consist  of  twelve  on  a  side — 
twenty-four  in  all,  selected  from  among  the  most  athletic  men  in  the 
station.  Each  side  is  headed  by  one  who  is  captain,  or  principal 
man.  The  ball  used  on  such  occasions  was  generally  made  of 
the  common  punk,  obtained  from  the  knots  of  trees^  or  some  soft 
dry  root,  and  is  always  covered  with  dressed  buckskin,  and  about 
the  size  of  a  walnut.  The  ball  is  never  to  be  touched  with 

*  Copied  from  MS.  letter  in  the  Historical  Collection  at  Nashville. 
t  MS.  Letter. 


70  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

the  hands,  but  is  caught,  held,  and  thrown  with  a  set  of  sticks 
made  expressly  for  the  purpose.  The  ball  stick  is  made  of 
a  piece  of  tough  wood,  about  six  feet  in  length,  and  the  thickness 
of  a  small  walking-stick,  reduced  one  half  in  the  middle,  for  about 
ten  inches.  The  piece  of  wood  is  then  bent  till  the  ends  are 
brought  together,  forming  a  bowl  something  like  the  bowl  of  a 
spoon,  while  the  two  strips  of  wood  are  wrapped  together  from  the 
bowl  to  the  ends  with  a  leathern  string,  to  make  the  handle;  the 
bowl  being  finished  with  buckskin  strings,  fastened  to  the  wood  on 
all  sides,  and  crossing  each  other,  forming  meshes  like  a  fine  seine, 
and  left  loose  so  as  to  bag  a  little.  The  ball-stick,  when  finished, 
was  a  spoon  with  a  bowl  about  as  large  as  a  man's  hand,  and  a 
handle  some  three  feet  long.  Each  man  is  furnished  with  two 
sticks,  which  together  would  hold  as  much  as  a  quart  measure. 

The  playground  is  generally  laid  off  east  and  west,  and  the  two 
poles  are  placed  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  mile  from  each  other. 
The  poles  are  two  stakes  put  up  about  twenty  yards  apart,  and  the 
ball  has  to  pass  between  these  two  stakes  in  order  to  count  one  in 
the  game.  Halfway  between  the  poles  a  line  is  drawn  ;  those  who 
wish  the  ball  to  pass  through  the  western  pole,  take  their  stand 
about  twenty  yards  erst  of  the  centre  line,  and  those  in  favor  of  the 
eastern  pole  take  their  position  about  the  same  distance  on  the  west 
of  the  line.  While  the  two  captains  take  their  stand  at  the  division 
line,  the  ball  is  laid  upon  the  ground,  on  the  centre  line.  One  of 
the  captains  takes  it  up  with  his  sticks,  and  throws  it  up  some  thirty 
or  forty  feet ;  and  then  the  game  begins.  The  two  captains,  one  in 
favor  of  the  western,  the  other  of  the  eastern  pole,  as  the  ball 
descends,  contend  for  it,  leaping  as  high  as  they  can,  while  the 
sticks  rattle  and  crash  together;  should  these  two  be  of  equal 
strength  and  expertness  in  the  game,  the  contention  may  be  long 
and  fierce,  and  it  sometimes  so  happens  that  they  struggle  until  per- 
fectly exhausted,  without  the  ball  taking  a  start  for  either  pole.  At 
other  times  the  ball  is  caught  in  its  descent,  and  hurled  with  great 
rapidity  towards  one  of  the  poles ;  but  whatever  direction  it  takes,  it 
meets  the  opposition  of  eleven  persons  who  have  taken  their  stand 


CIIAKLOTT&  ROBERTSON.  71 

in  that  direction,  by  some  of  whom  it  is  sure  to  be  caught  and 
hurled  in  a  different  direction.  I  have  seen  the  ball  hurled  back 
and  forward  in  this  way  for  minutes  together.  At  other  times  I 
have  seen  the  whole  twenty-four  contend  pell-mell  together  for 
several  seconds,  while  a  spectator  could  not  tell  where  the  ball  was. 
Again,  I  have  seen  the  whole  party  take  a  right  angular  direction 
to  the  poles,  in  consequence  of  the  hand  being  interrupted  at  the 
moment  of  throwing  the  ball,  and  thus  work  away  entirely  without 
the  limits  of  the  playground,  until  recalled  by  the  judges. 

There  is  no  time  for  breathing,  from  the  moment  the  ball  ia 
thrown  up  at  the  centre  line,  until  it  passes  through  one  of  the 
poles,  unless  the  judges  should  call  them  off  for  the  purpose  of 
recess  ;  and  never  have  I  seen  human  beings  so  much  fatigued  as  at 
the  end  of  one  of  these  strains. 

One  thing  which  I  have  observed  extremely  objectionable  in 
these  plays,  is  this ;  any  one  of  the  party  is  allowed  to  double  up 
his  antagonist,  notwithstanding  they  are  not  permitted  to  strike, 
scratch,  or  bruise  each  other.  The  doubling  is  done  in  the  follow- 
ing manner :  One  will  catch  his  antagonist,  throw  him  upon  his 
back,  take  him.  by  the  feet,  elevate  them,  and  press  his  head  and 
shoulders  upon  the  ground  until  the  poor  fellow  is  disabled  in  the 
back.  This  practice  results  sometimes  in  rendering  the  individual 
so  helpless,  that  he  has  to  be  carried  off  the  ground. 

The  only  clothing  carried  into  a  ball-pla^  is  the  belt,  with  a 
piece  of  some  kind  of  cloth  about  eighteen  inches  square,  appended 
in  front ;  but  they  generally  come  out  of  these  plays,  as  far  as  cloth- 
ing is  concerned,  about  as  they  came  into  the  world.  There  is 
always  the  same  number  in  reserve  that  are  engaged  in  the  play,  so 
that  when  one  is  disabled,  another  supplies  his  place,  in  order  that 
the  number,  twenty-four,  may  be  kept  up.  There  are  two  sets  of 
judges;  six  for  and  six  against  the  western  pole,  take  their  position 
there ;  and  in  like  manner  at  the  eastern  pole.  The  ball  has  to 
pass  twelve  times  between  the  same  pole,  or  stakes,  before  the  game 
ends. 

In  1794,  Mrs.  Robertson  went •  on  horseback  into  South  Carolina 


^2  PIONEER  WOMEN    OF  THE   WEST. 

accompanied  by  her  eldest  son,  to  bring  out  her  aged  parents,  who 
had  removed  to  that  State  with  some  of  their  children.  They 
returned  to  Tennessee  with  their  daughter,  who  was  now  able  to  offer 
them  a  comfortable  home,  and  under  her  roof  the  remainder  of  their 
days  passed  in  peace  and  comfort.  Both  lived  beyond  the  eightieth 
year  of  their  life,  and  had  the  passage  to  the  grave  smoothed  by  the 
devoted  attentions  of  an  affectionate  daughter,  and  her  equally 
•devoted  children. 

At  the  period  of  most  imminent  danger  to  the  settlement,  Mrs. 
Kobertson  was  often  deprived  of  the  support  which  kept  the  other 
women  from  despondency.  Her  husband  was  looked  upon  as  the 
special  protector  of  the  infant  colony,  and  had  laborious  duties  to 
perform  for  its  security  and  comfort.  He  was  obliged  every  year  to 
take  the  long  and  hazardous  journey  through  the  wilderness  to 
North  Carolina,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  sessions  of  the 
Legislature,  and  using  his  utmost  endeavors  to  have  the  aid  of  that 
body.*  extended  to  the  feeble  and  distant  settlement  on  the  Cumber- 
land. This  was  done  by  Gen.  Robertson  for  eight  or  ten  years  in 
succession,  and  while  thus  absent  from  home  a  great  part  of  his 
time,  he  and  his  family  were  exposed  to  perils  of  various  kinds,  and 
obliged  to  remain  ignorant  for  long  intervals  of  each  other's  condi- 
tion. For  fourteen  years  these  trials,  endured  by  Mrs.  Robertson 
and  her  family,  called  for  their  utmost  fortitude  and  energy  to  bear 
up  under  them,  and  under  harassing  anxiety  for  the  fate  of  their 
absent  guardian,-  exposed  unprotected  to  the  attacks  of  savage 
enemies. 

On  one  occasion,  Gen.  Robertson  and  his  eldest  son,  Jonathan, 
then  nearly  grown  to  manhood,  went  into  the  surrounding  woods  to 
see  after  some  horses  that  had  gone  astray.  The  General  had  a  led 
horse,  and  did  not  take  his  gun.  They  had  scarcely  entered  the 
woods  when  they  were  fired  on  by  five  or  six  Indians  who  lay  in 
ambush  near  the  path.  A  ball  passed  through  the  young  man's 
thigh  and  entered  his  horse's  side ;  the  father  also  received  two 
balls,  one  fracturing  the  bones  of  his  left  arm  just  above  the  wrist, 
the  other  passing  through  the  flesh  of  his  right  arm  without  injuring 


CHABLOTTE   EOBERTSON.  73 

the  bone.  Jonathan's  horse,  maddened  by  fright  and  the  wound, 
became  unmanageable,  and  plunged  so  violently,  that  fearing  the 
animal  might  fall  with  him,  and  entangle  him  I'^yond  escape,  he 
raised  himself  in  his  stirrups  and  leaped  to  the  ground,  alighting  on 
his  feet.  He  then  turned  on  the  Indians,  who  rushed  towards  him, 
and  prepared  to  fire,  while  the  savages  ran  to  the  shelter  of  trees  to 
protect  themselves.  One  was  behind  a  tree  not  large  enough  to 
screen  his  body,  and  young  Robertson  taking  aim,  fired  at  him  ; 
then  hastened  after  his  father,  whose  horse,  released  for  the  moment 
from  the  control  of  the  bridle  by  the  disabling  of  the  rider's  hands, 
had  dashed  off  furiously  in  a  different  direction  from  the  fort. 
When  the  General  heard  his  son  shouting  to  him,  he  checked  the 
animal,  and  the  young  man  sprung  on  the  back  of  the  led  horse, 
which  had  followed  close  on  the  heels  of  the  other.  The  whole 
scene  occurred  within  the  hearing  of  the  inmates  of  the  fort,  and  as 
the  fugitives  were  compelled  to  take  a  circuitous  route  to  reach  a 
place  of  safety,  it  may  be  imagined  what  were  the  feelings  of  the 
wife  and  mother  during  a  prolonged  period  of  fearful  suspense, 
when  the  probabilities  that  her  husband  and  son  were  murdered  or 
captive,  increased  with  every  passing  moment.  The  Indian  Jonathan 
had  shot,  was  found  afterwards  so  badly  wounded  that  he  died  in  a 
few  days.  His  gun  and  shot-bag  were  found  secreted  under  a  log 
near  the  tree,  the  bark  of  which  had  been  scalped  by  the  bullet. 

A  short  time  after  Jonathan's  marriage,  he  determined  on  making 
a  settlement  on  some  land  he  had  purchased,  a  mile  or  so  from  his 
father's  fort.  He  built  a  cabin,  and  commenced  clearing  the  land  ; 
but  was  prevented  by  other  occupations  from  continuing  his  work, 
and  hired  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hiland  to  carry  it  on.  This 
laborer  went  to  the  place  alone  ;  but  had  been  employed  only  a  few 
days,  when  returning  one  evening  from  his  work,  he  cut  a  large 
bundle  of  green  cane,  and  was  carrying  it  on  his  shoulder  to  his 
house ;  the  rustling  of  this  cane  afforded  a  party  of  Indians  a  fail- 
opportunity  of  coming  up  behind  him  without  being  perceived,  and 
as  he  was  in  the-act  of  throwing  the  cane  over  the  fence,  they  shot 
him  down  and  scalped  him.  Gen.  Robertson,  hearing  of  the  occur-* 
4 


74  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

rence,  determined,  if  possible,  to  insure  future  security  to  the  settlers 
by  pursuing  and  cutting  off  these  marauding  parties,  and  issued  an 
order  to  Capt.  Thomas  Murray,  to  raise  a  company  of  volunteers 
and  overtake  the  Indians,  or  pursue  them  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
nation.  A  detachment  was  raised  ;  the. settlers,  anxious  to  strike  a 
blow  for  their  own  security,  joining  in  large  numbers,  and  the  pur- 
suit was  commenced  with  a  hundred  and  ten  mounted  men.  After 
a  few  days,  the  spies  reported  the  Indians  encamped  on  the 
Tennessee  at  the  Muscle  Shoals  ;  the  company  attacked  the  camp, 
and  several  of  the  savages  were  killed,  some  making  their  escape, 
and  two  squaws  being  captured. 

Young  Robertson,  meanwhile,  was  not  discouraged  from  prose- 
cuting his  enterprise,  but  removed  to  his  new  place  with  his  wife, 
and  a  negro  named  Ephraim.  Determined  to  persevere  in  pre- 
paring the  land  and  making  a  home  for  his  family,  he  engaged  two 
of  his  wife's  cousins,  named  Cowen,  to  assist  him  in  his  labors.  They 
were  all  at  work  one  day  in  the  clearing,  and  were  as  usual  sum- 
moned to  dinner  by  a  call  from  the  house.  They  had  stacked  their 
arms  against  a  large  tree  some  fifty  yards  from  the  edge  of  the  clear- 
ing, and  between  that  and  the  house.  It  had  been  settled  between 
them  that  in  case  of  an  attack  by  Indians,  they  should  rush  instantly 
to  seize  their  arms,  each  take  a  tree,  and  make  a  stand  against  the 
enemy.  On  hearing  the  call  to  dinner,  the  men  laid  down  their 
working  implements,  and  stopped  to  push  up  the  brush  which  had 
not  been  consumed  into  the  brush-piles,  not  perceiving  that  several 
Indians  had  crept  along  under  cover  of  the  woods,  and  approached 
very  near  them.  The  moment  they  discovered  the  enemy,  they 
sprang  forward  to  secure  their  arms,  while  the  savages,  who  had 
reached  the  edge  of  the  clearing  by  the  time  the  white  men  gained 
their  weapons,  rushed  in  pursuit.  The  directions  previously  agreed 
upon  were  observed,  and  each  pioneer  snatched  his  gun  and  sprang 
behind  a  tree.  At  the  moment  Robertson  raised  his  gun,  he  per- 
ceived an  Indian  partly  concealed  behind  another  tree,  and  preparing 
to  fire.  His  body  projected  far  enough  beyond  the  cover  to  afford 
a  fair  chance  of  hitting  him ;  Robertson  fired,  and  at  the  same 


CHARLOTTE   ROBERTSON.  75 

instant  the  Cowens  did  also.  This  spirited  defence  alarmed  the 
Indians  ;  they  began  to  retreat,  and  had  disappeared  in  the  cane 
before  their  foes  could  reload.  Meanwhile  poor  Ephraim,  who  had 
a  terror  of  gunpowder,  could  not  stand  his  ground  with  the  rest  of 
the  party,  but  hastened  with  all  his  speed  towards  the  house  ;  and 
when,  after  the  flight  of  the  enemy,  the  white  men  raised  the 
Indian  yell  by  way  of  a  triumph  note,  the  affrighted  negro,  rushing 
into  the  cabin,  gave  the  inmates  reason  to  suppose  that  all  their 
friends  were  killed  and  scalped.  This  horrible  fear,  however,  was 
soon  dissipated  by  the  appearance  of  the  victorious  settlers  return- 
ing to  the  house.  One  of  the  Cowens  was  slightly  wounded  in  the 
vhand,  and  the  rim  of  Kobertson's  hat  on  one  side  was  nearly  severed 
from  the  crown  by  an  Indian  bullet,  but  no  other  injury  had  been 
received.  This  incident  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  the  only  instance 
during  the  period  of  the  Indian  troubles  in  which  white  men,  fired 
on  while  at  work  in  the  field,  made  a  stand,  and  succeeded  in  driv- 
ing off  the  assailants.  It  was  afterwards  ascertained  from  the 
Indians  that  five  of  their  number  had  been  either  killed  or  wounded 
so  desperately  that  they  died  before  reaching  home.  It  should  be 
mentioned  that  one  of  the  pioneers  used  a  British  musket  loaded 
with  rifle  bullets,  and  fired  at  a  number  of  Indians  together  as  they 
rushed  into  the  thin  cane  bordering  the  clearing.  It  was  believed 
the  party  of  savages  had  numbered  fifteen. 

An  instance  of  female  heroism  which  occurred  at  a  station  some 
six  miles  west  of  Nashville,  may  be  here  related.  Mrs.  Dunham, 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  pioneers,  while  sitting  in  her  house  at  work — 
her  little  children  playing  in  the  yard — heard  them  scream 
out  suddenly,  and  rushing  to  the  door,  saw  them  running  from 
several  Indians.  One  of  the  savages  was  in  the  act  of  clutching  her 
daughter,  six  or  seven  years  of  age,  and  succeeded  in  laying  hold  of 
the  child,  a  few  yards  from  the  door.  There  were  no  men  on  the 
premises ;  but  the  mother  seized  a  hoe  standing  against  the  house 
near  the  door,  and  rushed  at  the  Indian  with  the  uplifted  weapon. 
Before  she  came  near  enough  to  strike  him  with  it,  however,  he  let 
go  the  child,  who  ran  into  the  house,  the  mother  following.  The 


76  PIONEEK   WOMEN   OF   THE  WEST. 

Indian  pursued  them  closely,  and  pushed  his  gun  into  the  door 
before  it  could  be  closed,  to  shoot  Mrs.  Dunham.  She  kept  her 
hold  of  the  door,  and  slammed  it  to  violently,  catching  the  gun  be- 
tween it  and  the  door-post,  and  holding  it  with  all  her  force,  while 
the  savage  tried  in  vain  to  get  the  weapon  released.  She  then,  with 
singular  presence  of  mind,  called  aloud  as  if  to  some  person  within, 
'*  Bring  me  that  gun  !"  The  Indian  understood  enough  of  English 
to  know  her  meaning,  and  believing  there  were  other  persons  in  the 
house,  he  left  his  gun  and  made  off.  The  other  children  had  found 
shelter  in  the  house,  and  were  thus  preserved  from  massacre  by  their 
mother's  energy  and  self-possession. 

Mrs.  Dunham's  oldest  son,  Daniel — a  boy  nine  or  ten  years  of 
age — had  a  remarkable  escape.  He  was  out  playing  one  day  with 
two  or  three  other  boys  a  little  larger  than  himself,  and  the  youth- 
ful party  carelessly  wandered  a  short  distance  out  of  gunshot  of  the 
fort.  They  were  observed  by  some  Indians  who  resolved  to  take 
them  prisoners.  This  was  a  more  profitable  business  than  killing 
them,  as  they  could  make  useful  servants  of  the  captives,  or  obtain  a 
large  ransom  for  them  from  their  bereaved  friends.  With  this 
object,  the  savages  left  their  guns,  and  crept  stealthily  as  near  the 
boys  as  the  nature  of  the  ground  permitted  them  to  do  without 
being  seen.  As  they  rose  upon  their  feet  to  spring  forward  and 
seize  their  prey,  the  boys  saw  them,  gave  a  cry  of  alarm,  and 
instantly  started  in  a  life  and  death  race  for  the  fort.  Young  Dun- 
ham, the  smallest  lad,  was  the  hindmost,  but  he  fled  with  the  speed 
of  a  frightened  fawn,  closely  pursued,  however,  his  enemy  gaining 
ground  upon  him,  till  just  as  he  came  within  the  range  of  protec- 
tion from  the  fort,  the  Indian  overtook  him,  and  laid  hold  of  his 
flannel  hunting  shirt.  Throwing  his  arms  back  suddenly,  the  nim- 
ble boy  slipped  out  of  the  garment  and  ran  on,  leaving  the  disap- 
pointed savage  holding  his  trophy,  for  he  dared  not  pursue  the 
fugitive  any  further. 

Through  a  multitude  of  such  trials  Mrs.  Robertson  was  preserved. 
She  was  the  mother  of  eleven  children,  and  lived  to  an  advanced 
age,  leaving  a  number  of  descendants,  useful  and  prosperous  citizens 


CHARLOTTE   ROBERTSON.  77 

in  the  valley  to  which  she  came  as  a  pioneer.  She  witnessed  the 
gradual  growth  of  the  place  selected  as  her  home  from  a  wilderness 
to  a  rude  settlement,  and  thence  to  a  town  of  importance.  In  1805 
Nashville  boasted  but  one  brick  house,  although  Market- street  and  a 
few  others  were  laid  out.  There  was  a  log  schoolhouse,  and  the 
wild  forest  encircled  the  future  capital.  There  was  difficulty  at  that 
time  in  procuring  supplies  of  provisions  ;  it  took  three  or  four  months 
to  go  to  and  from  New  Orleans  in  the  flat-bottomed  boats,  which 
always  started  as  soon  as  the  waters  rose,  and  returned  in  the  spring 
laden  with  groceries,  grain,  and  various  articles  for  provision  and 
clothing.  Furs  were  procured  of  the  Indians.  There  were  at  that 
period  no  good  schools  in  the  valley,  and  pupils  were  sent  to  Caro- 
lina and  the  Eastern  States  to  be  educated,  by  parents  who  were 
able  to  afford  the  expense.  Stores  for  use  or  trading  purposes  were 
sometimes  brought  in  wagons  from  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia, 
through  the  eastern  portion  of  Tennessee  ;  but  pack-horses  had 
baen  generally  used.  Two  men  could  manage  ten  or  fifteen  horses, 
carrying  each  about  two  hundred  pounds,  by  tying  one  to  the  other 
in  single  file,  one  man  taking  charge  of  the  leading,  the  other  of  the 
hindmost  horse,  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  proper  adjustment  of  the 
loads,  and  to  stir  up  any  that  appeared  to  lag.  Bells  were  indis- 
pensable accompaniments  to  the  horses,  by  which  they  could  be 
found,  in  the  morning  when  hunting  up  preparatory  to  a  start. 
Grass  or  leaves  were  inserted  in  the  bells  to  prevent  the  clapper 
from  moving  during  the  travel  of  the  day.  The  first  wagon-load 
of  merchandize  brought  over  the  mountains  on  the  southern  route, 
is  said  to  have  been  in  1789,  when  it  was  nearly  a  month  making 
#  trip  of  one  hundred  and  forty  miles. 

"  The  water-craft  used  in  descending  the  Ohio  in  those  primitive 
times,  were  flat  boats  made  of  green  oak  plank,  fastened  by  wooden 
pins  to  a  frame  of  timber,  and  caulked  with  tow  or  any  other  pliant 
substance  that  could  be  procured.  Boats  similarly  constructed  on 
the  northern  waters,  were  called  "  arks,"  but  on  the  Western  rivers 
they  were  ^denominated  Kentucky  boats.  The  materials  of  which 
they  were  composed  were  found  useful  in  constructing  temporary 


78  ,    PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

buildings  for  safety  and  protection   against  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather,  after  they  had  arrived  at  their  destination."* 

In  early  life  Mrs.  Eobertson  became  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  with  her  husband  joined  the  first  society  of 
that  denomination  organized  in  the  country,  under  the  preaching  of 
Wilson  Lee.  The  class  met  to  hear  the  word  preached  and  for 
social  communion,  about  three  miles  west  of  Nashville.  She 
continued  an  exemplary  member  of  this  Church  to  her  death. 

In  all  the  relations  of  life  she  was  faithful,  and  strict  in  the  per- 
formance of  every  duty.  Her  manners  were  modest,  unassuming 
and  gentle;  she  was  kind  and  affectionate  in  her  family,  a  most 
devoted  and  loving  mother,  and  a  careful,  though  indulgent  mis- 
tress. She  was  ever  open-hearted  and  benevolent,  soothing  the  ills 
she  had  no  power  to  remove.  Her  industrious  habits  and  self- 
denying  virtues  were  an  example  to  all  who  knew  her,  and  she  was 
esteemed  and  beloved  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances. 
In  person  she  was  rather  above  the  medium  size,  with  a  symmetri- 
cal form,  and  regular,  interesting,  and  expressive  features.  She 
retained  to  the  close  of  life  the  faculties  of  mind  and  body  in  uncom- 
mon vigor ;  and  in  the  full  expectation  of  a  glorious  immortality 
calmly  closed  her  eyes  on  the  scenes  of  earth  in  her  ninety-third 
year,  June  llth,  1843,  at  the  house  of  her  son-in-law,  John  B. 
Craighead,  three  miles  west  of  Nashville. 

General  Robertson  was  engaged  during  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  in  public  service.  In  his  latter  years  he  was  appointed  Indian 
agent  in  the  Choctaw  nation,  where  he  died  in  1814.  His  bones 
were  removed  some  years  since  from  the  Indian  lands,  and  deposited 
in  the  burial  ground  at  Nashville.  The  sons  murdered  by  the 
Indians  were  Peyton  Henderson,  eleven  years  of  age,  and  James 
Randolph,  about  twenty.  With  the  exception  of  these,  and  an 
infant  daughter,  the  children  of  Mrs.  Robertson  lived  to  marry  and 
have  families  of  their  own.  Three  daughters  and  two  sons  are  liv- 
ing at  this  date,  and  Dr.  Robertson,  one  of  the  sons,  is  one  of  the 
most  highly  esteemed  citizens  of  Nashville.  • 
*  Burners  Notes. 


V. 

JANE  BROWN. 

MANY  fearful  tales  of  the  individual  suffering  which  marked  the 
early  history  of  Tennessee,  are  only  known  to  a  few  as  family  tra- 
ditions, and  remembered  by  the  descendants  of  those  who  bore  a 
part,  as  stories  of  the  nursery  and  not  as  chapters  in  the  great  his- 
toric record  of  the  past.  Yet  the  experience  and  conduct  of  a  single 
individual  may  often  better  illustrate  the  condition,  progress,  and 
character  of  a  people,  than  whole  chapters  devoted  to  the  details  of 
a  campaign. 

The  traditional  recollections  detailed  in  the  following  sketch  of  tho 
family  of  James  Brown,  connected  as  they  were  intimately  with 
some  of  the  most  important  political  events  of  that  period,  cannot 
fail  to  throw  new  light  upon  the  pioneer  history  of  the  country,  and 
inspire  our  hearts  with  renewed  gratitude  to  those  hardy,  but  wise 
men  and  women,  who  built  up  so  goodly  a  State  amidst  so  many 
troubles,  in  the  dark  and  bloody  valleys  of  the  Shauvanon,  Tanasees, 
and  Ho-go-hegee. 

Jane  Gillespie  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  about  the  year  1 740. 
Her  father  was  a  pioneer  in  the  settlement  of  North  Carolina.  Her 
family  was  one  of  the  most  respectable  as  well  as  the  most  worthy 
in  the  county  of  Guilford,  where  they  resided  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  Two  of  her  brothers,  Col.  and  Maj.  Gillespie,  were 


80  PIONEER    WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

distinguished  for  their  gallantry  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  liberty, 
and  were  honored  as  brave  officers.  Herself  and  most  of  her  fam 
ily  were  members  of  the  Rev.  David  Cald well's  church  at  Guil- 
ford,  and  ardently  espoused  his  political  and  religious  principles. 

About  the  year  1761  or  1762,  Miss  Gillespie  became  the  wife  of 
James  Brown,  a  native  of  Ireland,  whose  family  had  settled  in  Guil- 
ford  some  years  before.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  Mrs. 
Brown  had  a  large  family  of  small  children,  but  she  freely  gave  up  her 
husband  when  his  country  demanded  his  services.  During  the  mas- 
terly retreat  of  General  Greene,  in  the  winter  of  1781,  on  Dan  and 
Deep  rivers,  Brown  was  the  pilot  and  guide  of  Colonels  Lee  and 
Washington,  and  by  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  couutry,  its  by- 
paths and  fords,  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  successful  counter- 
inarches  of  the  American  army,  by  which  they  were  enabled  to  elude 
and  break  the  spirit  of  the  army  of  Lord  Cornwallis.  When  the 
Americans  assumed  the  offensive,  and,  from  a  retreating,  suddenly 
became  a  pursuing  army.  Brown  pressed  eagerly  into  the  fight  with 
the  bold  troopers  of  Lee  and  Washington. 

Being  in  moderate  circumstances,  and  pressed  by  the  cares  of  a 
large  and  increasing  family,  Brown's  ardent  temperament  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  prospect  of  a  plodding  life  of  toil  in  Guilford.  For 
his  Revolutionary  services  he  had  received  from  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  land-warrants,  which  entitled  him  to  locate  a  large  quan- 
tity of  land  in  the  wilderness  beyond  the  mountains.  His  neigh- 
bors had  made  him  sheriff  of  his  county,  and  a  justice  of  the  County 
Court,  and  he  was  rapidly  rising  in  the  estimation  of  his  country- 
men for  his  patriotism,  integrity,  and  many  other  virtues  of  a  good 
citizen.  But  he  readily  saw  the  advantages  which  he  might  secure 
to  his  rising  family  by  sinking  out  into  the  deep  forests,  and  secur- 
ing for  them  the  choicest  homes  in  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland 

o 

valleys.  He  could  command  only  a  trifle  in  money  for  his  land 
scrip,  but  by  exposing  himself  to  a  few  years  of  hardship  and  dan- 
ger, he  could  secure  independent  estates  for  his  numerous  children. 
With  him,  to  be  convinced  was  to  aci>:  his  decision  and  his  action 
went  together.  Tearing  himself  from  the  bosom  of  his  family  and 


JANE   BROWN.  81 

all  the  endearments  of  a  happy  home  circle,  he  set  out  on  his  jour- 
ney to  explore  the  valley  of  the  Cumberland.  The  whole  of  Ten- 
nessee was  then  a  wilderness,  except  a  small  spot  on  the  Holston 
or  Watauga,  on  the  east,  and  a  small  spot  around  Nashville  and 
Bledsoe's  Lick,  on  the  west  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains. 
Taking  with  him  his  two  eldest  sons,  William  and  John,  and  a  few 
tried  friends,  he  explored  the  Cumberland  valley.  He  secured  lands 
on  the  Cumberland  river  below  Nashville,  at  the  place  now  known 
as  Hyde's  Ferry.  He  also  explored  the  wilderness  south,  as  far  as 
Duck  river,  and  located  a  large  body  of  land  south  of  Duck  river, 
near  Columbia.  The  whole  country  was  then  almost  untrodden  by 
the  foot  of  the  white  man.  It  was  the  hunting-ground  of  the 
Chickasaws,  Creeks,  and  Cherokees,  and  was  full  of  deer,  elk,  bears, 
and  buffaloes.  The  rich  uplands,  as  well  as  the  alluvial  bottoms  of 
the  rivers,  were  covered  with  cane-brakes,  which  were  almost  imper- 
vious to  man.  Whoever  penetrated  these  regions,  did  so  with  knife 
and  hatchet  to  cut  away  the  cane,  and  with  rifle  to  oppose  the  sav- 
age beasts  and  savage  men  who  sheltered  in  its  deep  fastnesses. 
But  Brown's  heart  was  a  bold  one,  and  his  hopes  for  the  future  ani- 
mated him  to  perseverance.  Having  located  by  actual  survey  seve- 
ral fine  tracts  of  land,  he  determined  to  return  to  Guilford,  and 
remove  his  family  to  their  new  home  in  the  West.  Leaving  Wil- 
liam as  a  deputy  surveyor  under  Col.  Polk,  and  John  to  open  and 
cultivate  a  small  field,  and  build  some  cabins  at  the  mouth  of  White's 
Creek,  he  returned  to  North  Carolina. 

In  the  winter  of  1787-8,  Brown  and  his  family,  having  disposed 
of  their  property,  found  themselves  on  the  banks  of  the  French  Broad 
in  what  is  now  Hawkins  county,  Tennessee,  waiting  the  opening  of 
the  spring,  before  beginning  their  journey  across  the  mountains  to 
the  Cumberland  valley. 

In  1785,  the  treaty  of  Hopewell  had  been  concluded  with  the 
Cherokees,  guaranteeing  reciprocal  friendship  between  that  nation 
and  the  Americans.  At  the  time  Brown  arrived  on  the  banks  of 
the  French  Broad,  there  was  apparent  acquiescence  in  the  terms 

of  this  treaty,  and  the  Cherokee  and  the  white  man  seemed,  for  a 

*  I 

4* 


82  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

time,  to  have  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace,  and  buried  the  tomahawk 
for  ever. 

There  were  two  routes  to  the  Cumberland  Valley  at  this  time  , 
the  one  by  land,  the  other  by  water.  The  land  route  was  a  long 
and  tedious  one,  through  the  Cumberland  Gap,  across  the  head 
waters  of  the  Cumberland,  Green,  and  Barren  rivers  in  Kentucky, 
to  Bleds'oe's  Lick,  or  Nashville.  The  other  route  was  easier  of 
accomplishment,  and  more  desirable ;  because,  being  by  the  descent 
of  the  river,  it  admitted 'of  the  transportation  of  goods  and  aged 
persons.  Brown,  on  his  recent  visit  to  Cumberland,  had  heard  of 
Col.  Donaldson's  voyage  down  the  Tennessee,  up  the  Ohio  and 
Cumberland,  to  Nashville,  and  of  one  or  two  other  parties  who  had 
succeeded  in  making  the  same  voyage.  As  he  had  women  and 
small  children,  and  packages  of  valuable  goods,  which  he  was  tak- 
ing to  the  West,  he  resolved  to  hazard  the  descent  of  the  Tennessee 
river. 

He  was  not  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  there  were  many  populous 
Indian  towns  on  the  Tennessee  river,  of  both  the  Cherokee  and 
Chickasaw  nations,  and  that  marauding  parties  of  Creeks  and 
Shawanees  were  often  on  its  shores  and  in  the  towns.  He  knew 
the  danger  of  the  voyage,  on  account  of  the  hostile  Indians  ;  and 
he  also  knew  its  numerous  shoals,  rapids  and  eddies,  rendered  its 
navigation  perilous  to  such  frail  open  boats  as  could  then  be  con- 
structed. But  he  trusted  in  the  honest  disposition  of  the  Cherokees 
to  conform  to  the  treaty  of  Hope  well,  and  judged  that  the  maraud- 
ing Creeks  and  Shawanees  would  prove  less  dangerous  on  the  water 
than  on  the  circuitous  land  route  to  the  Cumberland.  Having  been 
habitually  exposed  to  danger  for  many  years,  it  is  probable  he  rather 
sought  the  most  perilous  route,  feeling  a  sort  of  manly  desire  to 
meet  and  overcome  it. 

Having  built  a  boat  in  the  style  of  a  common  flatboat,  modeled  as 
much  as  possible  after  Noah's  ark,  except  that  it  was  open  at  the 
top,  he  prepared  to  adventure  the  fearful  voyage.  About  the  1st  of 
May,  1788,  having  taken  on  board  a  large  amount  of  goods  suitable 
for  traffic  among  the  Indians  and  the  pioneers  in  Cumberland,  his 


JANE    BROWN.  83 

party  embarked  upon  the  bosom  of  French  Broad.  The  party  was 
a  small  and  weak  one,  considering  the  dangers  it  had  to  encounter, 
and  the  valuable  cargo  it.  had  to  defend.  It  consisted  of  Brown,  two 
grown  sons,  three  hired  men  and  a  negro  man  ;  in  all,  seven  grown 
men  ;  Mrs.  Brown,  three  small  sons  and  four  small  daughters ;  an 
aged  woman,  the  mother  of  one  of  the  hired  men,  and  two  or  three 
negro  women,  the  property  of  Brown. 

To  make  up  for  the  weakness  of  his  party,  Brown  had  mounted  a 
small  cannon  upon  the  prow  of  his  boat,  and  no  doubt  relied  as 
much  for  his  security  upon  the  known  terror  which  such  guns 
inspired  in  the  savages,  as  upon  any  damage  which  he  expected  to 
inflict  upon  them  with  it.  Thus  appointed  and  thus  equipped,  this 
happy  family  began  its  eventful  descent  of  the  river.  All  was  glad- 
ness, all  was  sunshine.  The  land  of  their  fathers,  of  their  loved 
friends  and  pastor,  was  behind  them  ;  beneath  their  oars  flashed  the 
bright  waters  of  a  lovely  stream,  whose  winding  channel  would  soon 
bear  them  to  their  new  home  in  the  valley  of  the  fairy  Cumberland. 
As  they  passed  rapidly  along,  the  father  sat  in  the  midst  of  his  little 
children,  hopefully  describing  their  new  home  in  the  deep  forests  of 
the  West. 

They  thus  descended  the  French  Broad  to  the  Tennessee,  and 
went  on  merrily  down  its  waters  to  Chickamauga,  a  considerable 
town  of  Cherokee  Indians,  not  far  from  the  present  site  of  Chatta- 
nooga. Here  the  Indians  appeared  friendly ;  the  principal  chief 
went  on  board  the  boat,  and  made  inquiry  for  various  articles  of 
goods,  proposed  to  trade,  and  finally  took  his  leave,  with  many  pro- 
fessions of  kindness.  Our  voyagers  continued  their  descent,  rejoicing 
in  the  happy  omen  which  the  friendship  of  the  Chickamauga  chief- 
tain opened  for  their  future.  The  next  day,  the  9th  of  May,  the 
solitary  pirogue  or  flatboat  had  passed  several  Indian  villages,  and 
had  come  in  view  of  the  towns  of  Running  Water  and  Nickajack, 
the  last  Cherokee  towns  where  there  was  any  considerable  body  of 
Indians.  The  voyagers  began  to  rejoice  in  their  happy  deliverance 
from  the  principal  dangers  which  had  threatened  their  journey. 
They  would  in  a  few  hours  be  through  the  mountain  passes,  on  the 


4  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

wide  bosom  of  a  noble  river,  where  they  would  be  comparatively 
free  from  the  ambuscades  of  lurking  savages. 

Suddenly  four  canoes,  with  white  flags  raised,  and  naked  savages 
kneeling  in  them  as  rowel's,  glided  out  into  the  river,  and  rapidly 
approached ;  fearing  some  mischief,  Brown  immediately  turned  his 
cannon  upon  the  approaching  canoes,  and  with  lighted  match,  bade 
them  keep  off  at  the  peril  of  their  lives. 

Struck  with  astonishment  at  the  bold  threat,  they  paused,  and 
pulled  their  frail  canoes  a  little  out  of  the  range  of  the  big  gun.  A 
man  by  the  name  of  John  Vaun,  a  well-known  half-breed,  who  spoke 
good  English,  was  the  leader  of  the  party.  He  spoke  to  Brown,  and 
said  that  his  party  came  in  friendship ;  as  an  evidence  of  that  they 
had  raised  a  white  flag  ;  they  came  as  his  friends  to  trade  with  him. 
Brown,  who  was  a*bold  and  fearless  man,  and  dared  to  face  a  thou- 
sand savages,  still  kept  them  off;  but  at  last,  confiding  in  the  assu- 
rances of  Vaun  that  he  was  a  white  man,  and  that  the  Indians  would 
respect  the  persons  and  property  of  his  party,  in  an  unguarded  mo- 
ment he  consented  that  several  of  the  Indians  might  come  on  board. 
A  dozen  Indians  now  came  on  board,  and  lashed  their  canoes  to  the 
side  of  the  boat.  As  they  came  near  the  town,  hundreds  dashed  out 
into  the  river  in  their  canoes,  and  came  alongside  of  the  boat.  Having 
thus  secured  possession,  the  leading  men,  especially  Vann,  assured 
Brown  that  no  harm  was  intended.  In  the  mean  time,  each  Indian 
seized  upon  whatever  he  fancied  and  threw  it  into  his  canoe.  In  this 
way  several  boxes  and  trunks  were  instantly  rifled.  Vann  pretended 
to  order  his  followers  to  abstain,  but  they  paid  no  attention  to  him. 
A  bold  warrior  now  demanded  of  Brown  the  key  to  a  large  chest, 
that  contained  his  most  valuable  stores,  which  he  refused  to  give, 
telling  the  Indian  that  Mrs.  Brown  had  it.  The  Indian  demanded  it 
of  Mrs.  Brown,  but  she  boldly  refused  to  give  it  up.  He  then  split 
the  top  of  the  chest  open  with  his  tomahawk,  and  his  example  was 
immediately  followed  by  the  other  Indians,  who  broke  open  and  rifled 
every  box  and  package  on  the  boat.  While  this  was  going  on,  a 
savage  rudely  took  hold  of  Joseph  Brown,  a  lad  fifteen  years  old, 
but  was  forced  by  the  father  to  let  the  boy  go.  An  instant  after, 


JANE    BROWN.  85 

the  Indian  seized  a  sword  lying  in  the  boat,  and  while  Brown's  back 
was  turned  to  him,  struck  him  on  the  back  of  the  neck,  almost  se- 
vering his  head  from  his  body.  Brown  turned  in  the  agony  of  death 
and  seized  the  Indian,  and  in  the  struggle  was  thrown  into  the  river, 
where  he  sank  to  rise  no  more.  The  boat  was  now  turned  into  the 
mouth  of  a  little  creek,  in  the  town  of  Nickajack,  and  the  whole 
party  taken  on  shore,  in  the  midst  of  several  hundred  warriors,  wo- 
men and  children.  In  the  mean  time,  Vann  continued  to  tell  the 
sons  of  Brown  that  all  this  was  a  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Hopewell, 
and  that  Breath,  the  chief  of  Nickajack  and  Running  Water,  who 
was  expected  there  that  night,  would  punish  the  marauders,  restore 
their  goods,  and  send  them  on  their  voyage.  Several  leading  war- 
riors of  the  upper  town  had  seized  Brown's  negroes  as  lawful  spoil, 
and  had  dispatched  them  in  canoes  to  their  several  homes.  What- 
ever may  have  been  Vann's  true  motives,  his  interference  on  this 
occasion  had  the  effect  to  place  the  whole  party  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Indians,  without  resistance.  If  he  acted  in  good  faith,  he  was  shame- 
fully deceived  by  his  followers ;  but  if  he  only  used  his  address  to 
disarm  the  voyagers,  that  they  might  the  more  easily  fall  victims  to 
savage  ferocity,  his  conduct  exhibits  the  climax  of  perfidy. 

A  party  of  Creek  braves,  who  were  engaged  with  the  men  of 
Nickajack  and  Running  Water  in  this  outrage,  having  seized  upon 
their  share  of  the  plunder,  and  having  taken  possession  of  Mrs. 
Brown,  her  son  George,  ten  years  old,  and  three  small  daughters, 
immediately  began  their  march  to  their  own  nation.  While  the 
Cherokees  were  deliberating  upon  the  fate  of  the  prisoners  and- a 
division  of  the  spoils,  they  adroitly  withdrew  from  the  council,  on  the 
plea  that  this  all  belonged  to  the  head  men  of  Nickajack.  Thus,  in 
one  short  hour  deprived  of  husband,  sons,  friends,  liberty  and  all, 
this  devoted  woman,  with  her  five  smallest  children,  began  her  sad 
journey  on  foot  along  the  rugged,  flinty  trails  that  led  to  the  Creek 
towns  on  the  Tallapoosa  river. 

At  the  time  of  this  outrage,  there  was  living  at  or  near  Nickajack, 
a  French  trader,  named  Thomas  Tunbridge,  married  to  a  white  wo- 
man, who  had  been  taken  prisoner  near  Mobile,  when  an  infant,  and 


86  PIONEER    WOMEN    OE   THE    WEST. 

raised  by  the  Indians.  After  she  was  grown,  she  was  exchanged, 
but  refused  to  leave  the  Indians,  distrusting  her  ability  to  adapt 
her  habits  to  civilized  life.  She  had  been  married  to  an  Indian 
brave,  by  whom  she  had  a  son,  now  twenty-two  years  old,  who  was 
one  of  the  boldest  warriors  of  the  Cherokee  towns.  He  had  already 
killed  six  white  men  in  his  forays  to  the  Cumberland  settlement. 
Having  all  the  versatility  of  his  mother's  race,  as  well  as  the  ferocity 
and  courage  of  his  father,  he  was  fast  rising  into  distinction  as  a 
warrior,  and  bade  fair  to  reach  the  first  honors  of  his  nation.  His 
praises  for  daring  and  chivalry  were  in  the  mouths  of  all. 

His  mother  was  now  growing  old,  and  having  no  young  children, 
her  son  desired  to  present  to  her  some  bright-eyed  boy  as  a  slave  ; 
for  according  to  the  savage  code  of  the  times,  each  captive  became 
a  slave  to  his  captor.  This  woman's  son,  whose  name  was  Kiachat- 
alee,  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  marauding  party  who  had  seized 
upon  Brown's  boat,  and  from  the  first  knew  the  fate  of  the  party. 
Before  the  boat  landed,  he  tried  to  induce  Joseph  to  get  into  his 
canoe,  with  the  intention  "of  withdrawing  him  from  the  general  mas- 
sacre that  was  soon  to  take  place,  but  the  boy  would  not  go  with 
him.  When  the  boat  landed,  Kiachatalee  took  Joseph  to  his  step- 
father, Tunbridge,  who  in  good  English  told  the  boy  he  lived  a  mile 
out  of  the  town,  and  invited  him  to  go  and  spend  the  night  with 
him.  This  the  boy  did,  after  asking  the  consent  of  his  elder  bro- 
thers. Tunbridge  seized  the  boy  by  the  hand  and  hurried  him  away. 
They  had  scarcely  gone  out  of  the  town  before  they  heard  the  rifles 
of  the  savage  braves,  who  were  murdering  kis  brothers  and  friends. 
What  were  the  feelings  of  the  poor  boy  at  this  moment !  His  father 
slain  ;  his  brothers  and  friends  weltering  in  their  blood,  amidst  the 
yells  of  savage  assassins  ;  and  his  mother,  brother  and  sisters  borne 
off,  he  knew  not  whither,  by  a  band  of  lawless  Creek  marauders  ! 
To  add  to  his  agony  at  such  a  moment,  an  aged  Indian  woman, 
with  hair  disheveled,  and  her  round,  fat  face  discolored  with  excite- 
ment, followed  them  to  the  trader's  house,  calling  upon  Tunbridge 
to  produce  the  white  man;  exclaiming,  with  a  fiendish  air  of  triumph, 
"  All  the  rest  are  killed,  and  he  must  die  also  !" 


JANE    EEOWX.  87 

The  trader  calmly  replied  to  her,  "  He's  only  a  little  boy.  It's  a 
shame  to  kill  children.  He  shall  not  be  killed." 

The  old  hag  was  excited,  and  vowed  that  the  boy  should  be 
killed.  She  said,  "  He  was  too  large  to  allow  him  to  live.  In  two 
or  three  years  he  would  be  a  man  ;  he  would  learn  the  country,  its 
towns  and  its  rivers  ;  would  make  his  escape  and  come  back  with 
an  army  of  white  men  to  destroy  us  all."  She  said  her  son,  Cutty- 
a-toy,  was  a  brave  chief,  and  that  he  would  be  there  in  a  few 
minutes  to  kill  the  boy. 

In  a  few  minutes  Cutty -a-toy,  followed  by  many  armed  warriors, 
rushed  upon  the  trader's  house,  and  demanded  the  white  boy,  saying 
that  he  was  too  large,  that  he  would  be  grown,  would  make  his 
escape,  and  bring  back  an  army  to  destroy  their  town. 

The  trader  stood,  with  cool  courage,  in  the  door  of  his  lodge,  and 
refused  to  surrender  the  prisoner,  saying  it  was  not  right  to  kill 
children,  and  also  warning  the  angry  chief  that  the  boy  was  the 
prisoner  of  Kiachatalee,  his  son,  and  if  he  was  injured  or  slam,  Kia- 
chatalee  would  be  revenged  for  it.  As  Kiachatalee  was  only  a 
young  warrior,  and  Cutty-a-toy  a  chief  and  a  gray-beard,  this  threat 
of  revenge  greatly  incensed  him.  In  an  instant  he  raised  his  toma- 
hawk, and,  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  intends  a  deed  of  murder, 
demanded  of  the  trader,  "  And  are  you  the  friend  of  the  Virginian  ?" 

Answering  the  look  rather  than  the  words,  the  trader  stepped 
out  of  his  door,  and  said  to  the  bloody  brave,  "  Take  him." 

Cutty-a-toy  then  rushed  into  the  trader's  lodge,  seized  the  boy  by 
the  throat,  and  was  about  to  brain  him  with  his  tomahawk,  when 
the  wife  of  Tunbridge  interposed  in  a  tone  of  supplication  which  at 
once  succeeded. 

"  Will  the  brave  chieftain  kill  the  boy  in  my  house  ?  Let  not 
the  boy's  blood  stain  my  floor." 

The  appeal  of  the  woman  reached  the  savage's  heart.  He 
dropped  his  weapon,  and  slowly  dragged  the  boy  out  of  the  lodge 
into  the  midst  of  a  crowd  of  savages,  who  waved  their  knives  and 
hatchets  in  the  poor  lad's  face,  in  order  to  enjoy  his  terror. 

In  the  path  which  led  from  the  house,  the  boy  fell  upon  his  knees, 


88  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

while  the  savages  were  tearing  off  his  clothes,  and  asked  the  trader 
to  request  the  Indians  to  give  him  one  half  hour  to  pray.  The 
trader  roughly  replied,  "  Boy,  it's  not  worth  while  ;  they'll  kill  you." 
As  he  stood  in  momentary  expectation  of  his  fate,  the  trader's  wife 
again  interposed,  and  begged  the  savage  chief  not  to  kill  the  boy  in 
her  yard,  or  in  the  path  along  which  she  had  to  carry  water,  but  to 
take  him  out  into  the  mountains,  where  the  birds  and  wolves  might 
eat  up  his  flesh  j  where  she  could  not  see  his  blood  ! 

The  appeal  of  the  woman  was  again  heard,  and  giving  the  boy 
his  pantaloons,  they  held  a  short  talk,  and  agreed  to  take  him  down 
to  Running  Water,  saying  to  the  trader's  wife,  "  We  will  not  spill 
this  boy's  blood  near  your  house ;  but  we  will  take  him  to  Running 
Water,  where  we  will  have  a  frolic  knocking  him  in  the  head." 

Having  gone  about  three  hundred  yards,  they  halted  and  formed 
a  circle  around  the  victim.  He  again  fell  upon  his  knees,  and  with 
his  face  upturned  towards  heaven,  and  his  hands  firmly  clasped  on 
his  breast,  remained  in  prayer,  expecting  at  each  moment  the  fatal 
blow.  At  this  dreadful  moment  he  thought  of  Stephen,  to  whose 
vision  the  heavens  were  opened  at  the  moment  of  his  death,  and 
was  happy.  As  the  savage  braves  stood  around  him,  young  Brown 
saw  their  stern  aspect  of  revenge  suddenly  relax,  and  a  smile  of 
sympathy  and  pity  succeed.  They  called  the  trader,  told  him  to 
take  the  boy,  that  they  would  not  kill  him  ;  and  Cutty-a-tey  said 
he  loved  the  boy,  and  would  come  back  in  three  weeks  and  make 
friends  with  him.  It  was  afterwards  ascertained  that  Cutty-a-toy 
had  taken  some  of  Brown's  negroes,  and  claimed  them  as  bis 
prisoners,  and  that  his  fear  lest  Kiatchatalee  might  retaliate  by  kil- 
ling his  negro  prisoners,  was  the  thought  which  suddenly  turned 
him  to  mercy  and  pity.  So  thought  his  own  followers ;  for  when 
he  said  he  loved  the  boy,  and  would  not  kill  him,  his  savage  follow- 
ers replied : 

"  No,  no,  he  does  not  love  the  boy ;  it's  the  boy's  negroes  he 
loves." 

When  Cutty-a-toy's  mother  saw  that  the  boy's  life  would  not  be 
taken,  she  seeined  displeased  ;  went  up  to  him  and  cut  off  his  scalp- 


JANE    BROWN.  89" 

lock,  and  kicked  him  so  rudely  in  the  side  as  almost  to  kill  him, 
exclaiming,  u  I've  got  the  Virginian's  scalp." 

The  Tuskegee  chief,  Cutty-a-toy,  led  his  party  away,  leaving 
Joseph  in  the  hands  of  the  trader  and  his  wife.  In  two  or  three 
days  he  was  taken  into  Nickajack,  and  the  kind  old  chief,  Breath, 
who  greatly  regretted  what  had  taken  place  in  his  absence,  took 
him  by  the  hand,  calmly  heard  a  narrative  of  his  situation  from  the 
trader's  wife,  and  then  told  the  boy  that  he  must  be  adopted  into 
his  tribe,  and  become  an  Indian  if  he  would  save  his  life ;  that  there 
was  no  other  way  in  which  his  life  could  be  saved.  To  that  end, 
the  chief  adopted  him  into  his  own  family,  and  told  Joseph  that  he 
was  his  uncle,  and  that  Kiatchatalee  was  his  brother.  His  head 
was  then  shaved,  leaving  only  a  fillet  of  hair  on  the  top,  in 
which  a  bunch  of  feathers  was  tied,  his  ears  pierced  for  rings,  and 
his  clothes  taken  off ;  the  flap  substituted  for  trowsers,  and  a  short 
shirt  for  a  coat,  shirt,  and  vest,  his  nether  vestments  consisting  of  a 
pair  of  deer-skin  moccasins.  In  this  condition  he  was  pronounced 
an  Indian,  with  the  exception  of  a  slit  in  each  ear,  which  the  kind- 
ness of  the  chief  deferred  making  until  cold  weather. 

The  trader's  wife  took  him  to  see  his  two  sisters,  Jane,  aged  ten, 
and  Polly,  aged  five  years,  who  had  just  been  brought  back  to 
Nickajack  ;  a  party  of  Cherokees  having  pursued  the  Creek  braves, 
and  recaptured  from  them  these  two  small  girls,  after  they  had 
been  taken  some  distance  towards  the  Creek  towns.  From  his  sister 
Jane,  Joseph  learned  the  destination  of  the  party  who  had  carried 
off  his  mother,  his  brother  George,  and  sister  Elizabeth.  The 
children  were  now  in  the  same  town,  adopted  into  different  families, 
and  it  was  a  source  of  consolation  to  them  to  be  allowed  to  see  each 
other  occasionally.  In  the  various  toils  which  were  imposed  upon 
the  little  captives,  such  as  carrying  water  and  wood,  pounding 
hominy,  and  working  corn  in  the  fields,  and  on  the  part  of  the  boy, 
looking  after  the  stock,  nearly  a  year  passed,  without  many  incidents 
worthy  of  note.  Hostile  parties  of  savages  came  and  went,  and 
tales  of  barbarous  deeds  done  by  them  on  the  distant  frontiers  were 
often  told  in  the  hearing  of  the  children,  but  none  brought  deliver- 


90  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

ance  for  them.  Yet  in  but  few  instances  did  the  savage  neighbors 
of  these  captive  children  treat  them  unkindly.  Three  or  four  times 
Joseph's  life  was  in  danger  from  lawless  braves,  whose  bloodthirsty 
natures  panted  for  the  blood  of  the  white  man.  The  good  old 
chief,  Breath,  hearing  of  these  things,  caused  young  Brown  to  be 
armed,  and  declared  that  it  should  be  lawful  for  him  to  slay  any 
Indian  who  should  maltreat  him. 

In  a  few  months  Joseph  was  allowed  a  rifle  and  a  horse,  and  per- 
mitted to  go  into  the  woods  to  hunt.  He  might  often  have  availed 
himself  of  the  kindness  of  his  savage  friends,  and  made  his  escape  to 
the  frontiers,  but  he  loved  his  little  sisters,  and  his  love  for  them 
restrained  his  desire  for  freedom,  lest  his  escape  might  add  to  the 
rigors  of  their  slavery,  or  perhaps  for  ever  prevent  their  deliverance. 

In  the  meantime  open  war  had  been  going  on  between  the 
Indians  and  the  people  of  Cumberland  and  East  Tennessee.  Two 
thousand  warriors,  principally  Cherokees,  of  whom  four  or  five  hun- 
dred were  horsemen  dressed  as  white  men,  made  an  irruption  into 
East  Tennessee,  killing  everything  before  tliem.  Generals  Sevier 
and  Martin,  with  a  large  body  of  pioneers,  had  marched  into  their 
territory,  laying  waste  their  fields  and  villages.  When  their  chief, 
Big  Tassel,  came  to  Sevier's  camp  with  a  flag  to  hold  a  talk,  he  was 
killed  by  a  soldier  named  Kirk,  whose  family  had  been  murdered 
by  his  warriors.  This  outrage  added  new  flames  to  the  rage  of  the 
Cherokees,  who  no  longer  sought  peace.  In  their  revengeful  foray, 
they  stormed  Fort  Gillespie,  eight  miles  from  Knoxville,  and 
butchered  men,  women  and  children,  carrying  off  Mrs.  Glass,  the 
sister  of  Capt.  Gillespie. 

These  savages  were  not 'wholly  illiterate:  many  of  their  leaders 
could  speak  and  even  write  English,  and  they  well  understood  the 
sacred  character  of  a  white  flag  and  of  treaties.  The  following  pro- 
clamation, written  at  Fort  Gillespie  after  the  massacre,  by  Watts,  or 
some  of  his  half-breed  followers,  is  curious  and  illustrative.  It  is 
signed  by  Bloody  Fellow,  Categisky,  John  Watts,  and  The  Glass. 


JANE    BEOWN.  91 

Oct.  15th,*  1798. 

To  Mr.  JOHN  SEVIER  and  JOSEPH  MARTIN,  and  to  You,  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  New  State. 

"  "We  would  wish  to  inform  you  of  the  accidents  that  happened 
ut  Gillespie's  Fort,  concerning  the  women  and  children  that  were 
killed  in  the  battle. 

"  The  Bloody  Fellow's  talk  is,  that  he  is  now  here  upon  his  own 
ground.  He  is  not  like  you  are,  for  you  kill  women  and  children 
and  he  does  not.  He  had  orders  to  do  it,  and  to  order  them  off 
the  land,  and  he  came  and  ordered  them  to  surrender,  and  they 
should  not  be  hurt,  and  they  would  not.  And  he  stormed  it  and 
took  it. 

"  For  you,  you  beguiled  the  head  man  (Big  Tassel),  who  was  your 
friend,  and  wanted  to  keep  peace. 

u  But  you  began  it,  and  this  is  what  you  get  for  it.  When  you 
move  off  the  land,  then  he  will  make  peace,  and  give  up  the  women 
and  children. 

"And  you  must  march  off  in  thirty  days. 

"  Five  thousand  is  our  number !" 

In  the  spring  of  1789,  an  exchange  of  prisoners  was  agreed  upon 
at  a  talk  held  with  Gen.  Sevier.  It  was  agreed  that  the  Cherokees 
should  make  an  absolute  surrender  of  all  .the  white  persons  within 
their  borders,  and  runners  were  sent  to  each  of  the  head  men,  to 
send  their  captives  to  the  Little  Turkey  for  an  exchange.  When 
•these  runners  came  to  Nickajack,  young  Brown  was  on  a  trading 
trip  down  the  river  with  his  Indian  brother  Kiachatalee,  and  did  not 
return  until  Mrs.  Glass  and  all  the  other  prisoners  had  gone  up  to 
Running  Water,  where  the  chief  was  awaiting  their  arrival. 

When  young  Brown  got  home,  he  was  sent  with  one  of  his 
sisters  to  Running  Water,  in  order  to  he  sent  up  to  the  treaty- 
grounds  to  be  exchanged.  His  little  sister  would  not  leave  her 
Indian  mother,  who  had  ever  treated  her  kindly,  but  wept  and 
clung  to  her  neck,  declaring  that  it  would  break  her  Indian  mother's 

*  Hay  wood  gives  the  date  of  the  taking  of  the  fort  as  the  10th  September, 
but  in  his  appendix  the  i/5th. 


92  PIOHfi&B    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST 

heart  if  she  left  her.  This  tender  feeling  was  a  tribute  to  savage 
kindness,  but  young  Brown  finally  took  his  sister  in  his  arms,  and 
carried  her  some  distance,  before  he  could  reconcile'  her  to  go  with 
him.  His  eldest  sister  belonged  to  a  trader,  who  said  he  had 
bought  her  with  his  money,  and  would  not  let  her  go.  Joseph  had 
to  leave  her  behind,  being  wholly  unable  to  redeem  her. 

At  Running  Water,  young  Brown  heard  Turkey,  the  head  chief, 
stating  to  his  chiefs  around  him  the  terms  of  the  treaty  he  had 
made :  and  in  doing  so,  his  followers  upbraided  him  for  agreeing  to 
deliver  so  many  prisoners  without  any  ransom.  To  this  the  chief 
replied,  "  Little  John  (meaning  Sevier)  would  have  it  so ;  he  is  a 
very  mean  man — a  dog ;  but  he  has  my  daughter  a  prisoner,  and 
he  knew  I  would  have  to  agree  to  any  terms,  to  get  her  back." 

The  next  morning,  when  the  Indian  chief  was  about  to  start  his 
prisoners  forward,  young  Brown  refused  to  go,  and  was  taken  to  the 
chief  to  give  his  reasons.  He  then  stated  that  one  of  his  sisters  was 
left  in  Nickajack,.  and  that  he  never  would  consent  to  be  set  at 
liberty  without  her.  The  savage  chief  immediately  sent  for  the  girl, 
and  after  some  delay,  Col..  Bench,  the  chief  of  the  mounted  regiment 
of  Indians,  went  himself,  and  brought  the  girl  to  Running  Water. 
Tims,  about  the  first  of  May,  1*789,  young  Brown  and  his  two  sisters 
were  once  more  restored  to  liberty.  Being  reduced  to  poverty, 
these  now  orphan  children  were  sent  into  South  Carolina,  to 
sojourn  with  some  relatives  until  their  elder  brother,  who  was  in 
Cumberland,  could  go  after  them,  or  until  their  mother  should  b<* 
released  from  -her  captivity  amongst  the  Creeks. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  9th  of  May,  1788,  and  continue  the 
narrative  of  Mrs.  Brown's  captivity.  Having  seen  her  husband  fall 
by  the  hands  of  savages,  she  was  hurried  away  by  her  captors,  and 
took  the  road  southward,  just  as  she  heard  the  yells  and  rifles  of  the 
cruel  savages  who  murdered  her  sons  and  their  companions. 
What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  horror  and  agony  of  this  poor 
woman,  herself  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  she  knew  not  whom,  and 
borne  she  knew  not  whither  !  To  add  to  the  horror  of  her  situa- 
tion, she  soon  saw  two  of  her  sweet  little  daughters  torn  from  her 


JANE   BKOWN.  93 

side  by  a  party  of  Chevokees,  and  borne  back,  she  knew  not 
whither,  nor  for  what  end  ! 

Driven  forward  on  foot  for  many  days  and  nights,  she  continued 
to  bear  np  under  the  bodily  fatigues  and  mental  anguish  by  which 
she  was  tortured,  her  feet  blistered  and  swollen,  and  driven  before 
the  pack-horses  along  a  flinty  path,  every  moment  expecting  death 
if  she  failed,  and  every  moment  expecting  to  fail !  She  yet  accom- 
plished many  days'  travel,  and  finally  reached  one  of  the  upper 
Creek  towns  on  the  Tallapoosa,  far  down  in  the  wilderness.  Arrived 
at  the  town  of  her  captor,  she  found  herself  a  slave,  doomed  to  bear 
wood  and  water,  pound  hominy,  and  do  all  servile  offices  for  her 
savage  mistress.  To  add  to  her  distress,  her  son,  nine  years  old, 
and  her  daughter,  seven,  were  taken  to  different  towns,  and  she  was 
left  indeed  alone  in  her  sorrow. 

At  the  period  of  Mrs.  Brown's  captivity,  Alexander  M'Gillevray,  a 
half-breed  Creek,  of  Scotch  descent,  was  the  head  chief  of  the 
Muscogee  Indians,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Commander-in-chief  of 
the  Upper  and  Lower  Creeks  and  the  Seminoles;  being  the  military 
as  well  as  the  civil  governor  of  all  the  Indians  of  Florida,  Alabama, 
and  Lower  Georgia.  He  was  a  man  of  keen  sagacity,  forest-born 
and  forest-bred,  combining  the  shrewdness  of  the  savage  with 
the  learning  of  the  civilized  man.  Fortunately  for  Mrs.  Brown,  her 
cruel  captor  took  her  to  a  town  in  which  lived  a  sister  of  M'Gille- 
vray,  who  was  the  wife  of  a  French  trader  by  the  name  of  Durant. 
Her  age  and  dignified  bearing  under  the  toils  imposed  upon  her, 
excited  the  sympathy  and  compassion  of  this  kind-hearted  Indian 
woman.  Several  weeks  passed  before  she  found  an  opportunity,  but 
when  Mrs.  Brown's  savage  master  was  absent,  the  wife  of  Durant 
spoke  to  her  kindly,  told  her  that  she  pitied  her  sorrow,  and  would, 
if  she  could,  relieve  her.  She  said  her  brother,  the  chief  of  the 
Creeks,  did  not  approve  of  his  people's  making  slaves  of  the  white 
women,  and  that  he  was  a  liberal,  high-minded  man,  who  had  a 
soul  of  honor,  and  would  never  turn  away  from  a  helpless  woman 
who  came  to  him  for  succor.  "  Why  do  you  not  fly  to  him !" 
asked  the  simple-hearted  woman. 


94  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

Mi's.  Brown  explained  to  her  her  total  ignorance  of  the  country, 
and  her  inability  to  reach  the  residence  of  Col.  McGillevray.  The 
Indian  woman  listened  to  her,  and  then  said,  "  It  is  true  :  but  if 
you  will,  there  is  my  horse,  and  there  is  my  saddle.  You  are  weir 
come  to  them  ;  but  you  must  take  them.  I  cannot  give  them,  but 
my  husband  shall  never  pursue.  You  can  take  them  without 
danger."  It  was  arranged.  On  a  certain  morning  the  Indian 
woman  sent  an  aged  Indian,  who  was  to  act  as  the  guide  of  Mrs. 
Brown,  as  far  as  a  trader's  house  ;  from  which  point  the  trader  was 
to  procure  a  guide  and  a  horse. 

At  the  appointed  time,  Mrs.  Brown,  mounted  upon  her  friend's 
horse  and  saddle,  started  in  pursuit  of  her  Indian  guide,  who  tra- 
velled on  as  though  entirely  unconscious  of  her  existence.  She 
arrived  in  safety  at  the  trader's  lodge,  and  was  by  him  furnished 
with  a  guide  and  horse  to  the  chieftain's  residence.  Full  of  grati- 
tude for  intended  kindness,  she  yet  approached  the  Creek  chieftain 
with  many  feelings  of  doubt  and  misgiving.  He  received  her 
kindly,  heard  her  story  attentively,  and  after  considering  it  well, 
gave  Mrs.  Brown  a  cordial  welcome  to  his  house,  and  bade  her  stay 
with  his  wife,  as  a  member  of  his  family.  He  explained  to  her 
that,  according  to  the  usage  of  his  people,  she  belonged  to  her 
captor,  and  that  he  had  no  right  to  take  her  from  him. 

He  said,  however,  that  he  could  no  doubt  reconcile  her  master  by 
some  presents,  when  he  should  follow,  as  he  no  doubt  would  before 
long.  He*  told  her  she  could  make  shirts  or  other  garments  for  the 
traders,  and  soon  provide  herself  with  everything  necessary  for  her 
comfort.  In  the  meantime,  he  would  furnish  her  with  whatever 
she  needed.  Mrs.  Brown  accepted  the  savage  chieftain's  proffered 
protection,  and  took  shelter  under  his  roof.  She  had  been  there 
but  a  few  days  when  she  was  startled  by  the  appearance  of  her 
savage  master,  who  had  followed  her  to  her  place  of  refuge.  For- 
tunately for  her,  the  chieftain  was  at  home,  and  himself  met  her 
pursuer.  The  Indian  gruffly  demanded  of  his  chieftain  the  white 
woman,  his  prisoner. 

Col.   McGillevray   at  once  informed  him   that  she  was  in  hia 


JANE   EKOWN.  95 

house,  and  that  he  had  promised  to  protect  her.  The  savage 
merely  replied,  "  Well,  if  you  do  not  give  me  back  my  prisoner,  I'll 
kill  her."  The  wily  chieftain  knew  his  man,,  and  humoring  his 
temper,  replied,  "  That  is  true.  She  is  your  prisoner,  and  you  can 
kill  her,  i'f  you  choose.  I  know  she  is  a  weak  woman,  and  you  are 
a  brave  warrior.  Would  you  tie  the  scalp  of  a  squaw  about  your 
neck  ?» 

"  But  she  can  carry  water,  and  hoe  corn,  and  pound  hominy  for 
my  wife,"  said  the  Creek  warrior ;  "  and  she's  mine ;  she's  my 
prisoner." 

"  That's  true,"  said  the  chieftain  ;  "  but  if  you  kill  her,  will  she 
carry  any  more  water  ?  Can  the  dead  work  ?  If  you  will  consent 
•  to  leave  her  with  me,  so  that  I  can  send  her  back  to  her  people,  I 
will  send  your  wife  a  new  dress,  and  will  give  you  a  rifle,  some 
powder  and  lead,  and  some  beads  and  paints ;  and  when  you  go 
back  to  your  wife,  she  will  not  see  the  blood  of  a  woman  upon 
your  hands  !" 

Savage  cupidity  overcame  savage  revenge,  and  Mrs.  Brown 
became  the  ransomed  captive  of  the  brave  and  generous  McGille- 
vray  ;  a  noble  instance  of  chivalry  on  the  part  of  a  savage  chieftain^ 
which  reflects  more  honor  on  his  name  than  the  glory  of  a  hundred 
battles  fought  by  his  people  during  his  chieftaincy.  For  several 
months  she  plied  her  needle  in  his  lodge,  and  by  her  experience  in 
the  craft  of  needle-woik  soon  rendered  herself  useful  to  her  Indian 
friends,  and  by  her  dignity  and  energy  commanded  their  respect. 

The  chieftain  on  his  next  visit  to  the  upper  Creek  towns,  found 
Mrs.  Brown's  daughter,  Elizabeth,  aged  about  seven  years,  gene- 
rously purchased  her  from  her  master,  and  upon  his  return  home  had 
the  pleasure  of  restoring  the  sweet  child  to  her  distressed  mother : 
a  grateful  duty,  nobly  performed  !  He  also  informed  Mrs.  Brown 
that  he  had  seen  her  son  George,  and  .tried  to.:  induce  his  master  to 
part  with  him,  but  that  he  was  so  much  attached  to  the  boy  he 
would  not  part  from  him  on  any  terms.  But  he  assured  her  he 
would  not  fail,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  ransom-  her  son,  and  restore 
him  also  to  her  arms. 


06  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

In  November,  1789,  Col.  McGillevray  had  appointed  to  meet 
commissioners  to  arrange  terms  of  peace,  at  Rock  Landing,  Georgia. 
On  his  departure  for  the  treaty  grounds,  he  took  Mrs.  Brown  and 
her  daughter,  and  there  delivered  them  to  her  son  William,  who 
came  from  South  Carolina,  and  had  gone  thither  in  hopes  that  he 
might  be  enabled  to  hear  something  of  her  and  her  long  lost  chil- 
dren. 

Thus,  in  November,  1789,  after  eighteen  months'  captivity,  she 
was  at  last  united  with  her  surviving  children.  They  spent  a  short 
time  in  South  Carolina  with  some  relatives,  and  returned  to  Guilford, 
N.  C.,  at  last  restored  to  her  friends,  whom  she  had  left  but  two 
short  years  before.  But  what  a  change  had*  taken  place  in  her 
destiny  since  she  had  started  westward  with  her  husband,  sons,  and 
neighbors,  so  full  of  life  and  hope !  All  her  captive  children  were 
now  restored  to  her,  except  George,  who  was  in  one  of  the  upper 
Creek  villages,  doomed  to  a  still  longer  captivity. 

Mrs.  Brown  had  two  sons  who  were  in  the  Cumberland  Valley 
on  the  9th  of  May,  1788 ;  William  the  surveyor,  and  Daniel,  aged 
twelve  years,  who  went  over  the  land  route  with  some  stock,  to  the 
Cumberland  Valley.  During  her  short  stay  in  Guilford-,  her  bene- 
factor, the  Creek  chieftain,  passed  through  Guilford  Court  House, 
and  sent  word  to  Mrs.  Brown  that  he  was  there.  She  immediately 
went  with  her  brother,  Col.  Gillespie,  Rev.  Dr.  Caldwell,  and  her 
son  William,  and  thanked  him  with  them.  In  addition,  her  brother 
offered  to  pay  Col.  McGillevray  any  sum  he  might  think  proper  to 
demand,  as  the  ransom  of  Mrs.  Brown  and  her  daughter,  but  the 
generous  Creek  refused  any  compensation  whatever.  He  said  he 
owed  it  to  humanity  and  honor  to  do  as  he  had  done,  and  that  to 
receive  pay  for  it  would  deprive  him  both  of  the  real  pleasure  and 
real  honor  of  such  a  deed.  He  assured  Mrs.  Brown  he  would  not 
fail  to  use  his  best  efforts  to  restore  her  son,  and  she  might  rely 
upon  his  finding  out  some  means  to  accomplish  so  good  an  object. 

Mrs.  Brown,  with  the  remnant  of  her  family,  again  turned  her 
face  westward,  seeking  the  new  home  which  the  foresight  of  her 
jiusband  had  prepared  for  her  and  her  children,  and  to  which  he 


JANE   BEOWN.  97 

was  so  boldly  conducting  them  when  he  perished.  And  now  at 
last,  in  1791,  this  devoted  woman  and  all  her  surviving  children 
but  one,  found  themselves  at  their  new  home,  at  the  mouth  of 
White's  creek,  near  Nashville.  About  this  time  her  son  Joseph, 
while  travelling  with  a  small  party  of  friends,  was  shot  through  the 
arm  by  a  party  of  savages  in  ambush ;  a  severe  wound,  from  which 
he  did  not  recover  for  some  time. 

In  1792,  a  formidable  body  of  Creeks,  Cherokees,  and  Shawanees 
invaded  Cumberland  Valley,  attacked  Buchanan's  Station,  and  were 
repulsed  with  great  loss.  Joseph  Brown  came  the  next  morning, 
with  a  large  party  of  friends,  to  the  assistance  of  Buchanan,  but  the 
Indians  had  retreated  Upon  approaching  the  scene  of  action, 
what  was  young  Brown's  astonishment  at  finding  his  Indian  brother, 
Kiachatalee,  lying  cold  in  death  upon  the  field,  near  the  walls  of  the 
fort  against  which  he  had  so  gallantly  led  the  -assault !  The  next 
year,  Joseph  attended  a  treaty  at  Tellico,  in  East  Tennessee,  where 
he  met  a  nephew  of  Kiachatalee,  named  Charles  Butler,  with  whom 
he  had  been  well  acquainted  while  a  prisoner  at  Nickajack.  Butler 
gave  him  the  Indian  version  of  the  attack  on  Buchanan's  Station, 
and  also  the  story  of  Kiachatalee's  heroic  death.  He  said  the 
assault  was  led  by  Kiachatalee ;  that  he  attempted  to  set  fire  to 
the  block-house,  and  was  actually  blowing  it  into  a  flame,  when  he 
was  mortally  wounded.  He  continued,  after  receiving  his  mortal 
wound,  to  blow  the  fire,  and  to  cheer  his  followers  to  the  assault, 
calling  upon  them  to  fight  like  brave  men(.  and  never  give  up  till 
they  had  taken  the  fort.* 

There  were  many  incidents  of  frontier  life,  such  as  Mrs.  Brown's 
was  now,  which  would  be  interesting  to  the  present  generation,  but 
the  length  of  this  sketch  will  necessarily  exclude  many  of  them.  On 
one  occasion,  her  eldest  son,  William,  while  in  pursuit  of  a  party  of 

*  For  the  incidents  connected  with  the  attack  on  Buchanans  Station,  see 
Women  of  the  American  Revolution,  vol.  iii.,  Memoir  of  SARAH  BUCHANAN, 
which  should  be  read  in  connection  with  the  Tennessee  Sketches  in  this 
volume.  In  it  the  Shawanee  chief  is  represented  as  performing  the  heroic 
part  really  performed  by  Kiachatalee. 

5 


98  PIONEER   AVOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

Indians  near  Nashville,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  arm,  so  that 
almost  every  member  of  her  family  had  been  captured,  wounded,  or 
slain  by  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  These  were  trials  hard  to  bear  ; 
yet  amidst  all  her  troubles  Mrs.  Brown  bore  herself  as  an  humble 
Christian,  devoutly  grateful  to  the  Giver  of  all  good,  that  He  had 
watched  over  her  and  guided  her  footsteps  aright,  in  the  midst  of 
so  many  sorrows. 

In  the  year  1794,  such  had  been  the  continued  outrages  of  the 
savages  from  the  lower  Cherokee  towns,  in  conjunction  with  maraud- 
ing Creeks  and  Shawanees,  upon  the  Cumberland  settlements,  that 
the  principal  pioneers  resolved  to  fit  out  an  expedition  at  their  own 
expense,  march  to  Nickajack  and  Running  Water,  and  punish  those 
lawless  people  with  fire  and  sword.  The  national  administration 
had,  by  its  Commissioners,  made  treaty  after  treaty  with  the  Chero- 
kees,  but  still  the  people  of  these  lower  towns  continued  their  depre- 
dations, against  the  wishes  of  the  upper  Cherokees ;  and  it  was  im- 
possible to  induce  the  national  government  to  take  the  decided  steps 
which  these  bold  pioneers  knew  were  so  absolutely  necessary  to 
check  the  marauding  spirit  of  the  lower  Cherokee  towns.  These 
towns  were  far  down  the  Tennessee,  in  the  midst  of  mountain  fast- 
nesses, which  the  foot  of  white  man  had  never  trod.  They  felt  se- 
cure from  all  aggression,  and  reposed  in  full  confidence  that  whoever 
might  suffer  on  account  of  their  incursions  into  Cumberland,  their 
towns  were  unapproachable. 

At  this  time  Joseph  Brown  was  living  near  Nashville  with  his 
mother,  and  had  recently  gone  with  Gen.  Robertson  to  attend  an 
Indian  council  at  Tellico  block-house.  The  intimate  knowledge 
young  Brown  had  obtained  of  these  lower  towns  and  their  people 
by  his  residence  there,  enabled  him  to  communicate  a  good  idea  of 
the  country  and  the  people  from  whom  the  Cumberland  settlements 
had  so  long  suffered.  The  death  of  Kiachatalee  at  Buchanan's  Sta- 
tion, on  the  30th  September,  1792,  his  warlike  character,  so  well 
known  to  Brown,  and  his  leadership  as  a  warrior  among  the  men 
of  Nickajack  and  Running  Water,  all  pointed  out  these  towns  as 
the  hives  from  which  came  forth  such  swarms  of  marauding  Indians. 


JANE    BROWN.  99 

Despairing  of  succor  from  the  national  government,  Gen.  Robert- 
son wrote  to  Col.  Whitley,  of  Kentucky,  who  was  a  well-known  par- 
tisan, to  be  at  Nashville  about  the  1st  September,  1794,  with  as 
many  trusty  riflemen  as  he  could  bring  with  him.  About  the  same 
time  Col.  Mansco,  Gen.  Johnson  of  Robertson,  Col.  Montgomery 
of  Clarksville,  and  Gen.  Robertson,  each  quietly  raised  a  few  trusty 
men.  Maj.  Ore  at  that  time  commanded  a  squadron  of  mounted 
men,  who  were  in  the  employ  of  the  United  States  as  rangers,  to 
protect  the  frontiers  of  Cumberland.  At  the  request  of  Gen.  Robert- 
son, Maj.  Ore  arrived  at  Buchanan's  Station  just  in  time  to  join  the 
expedition. 

In  the  meantime,  boats  were  made  of  hides,  and  tried  in  the 
Cumberland  river,  to  ascertain  their  capability  of  transporting  the 
tiv/ops  across  the  Tennessee.  These  boats  were  made  each  of  two 
raw  hides,  as  large  as  could  be  got,  sewed  together,  and  each  was 
found  capable  of  carrying  about  fifty  guns,  and  one  or  two  men. 
They  were  capable  of  being  rolled  up  and  packed  on  mules  or  horses, 
and  could  in  a  few  moments  be  fully  equipped  and  launched. 

All  the  parties  being  assembled,  it  was  ascertained  that  there 
were  about  six  hundred,  including  Maj.  Ore's  Rangers.  As  all  but 
his  command  were  volunteers,  who  came  out  without  any  autLj/.iy, 
it  was  resolved  to  give  Ore  the  nominal  command  of  the  whole 
party,  which  would  give  color  of  authority  to  the  party  to  make  the 
campaign,  and  would  save  them  from  the  odium  of  making  a  lawless 
invasion  of  the  Indian  country.  Col.  Whitley  and  Col.  Mansco  were, 
however,  the  prime  movers  of  the  campaign,  and  had  most  of  the 
responsibility  of  its  conduct.  With  the  troops  were  more  than  a 
dozen  leading  partisan  officers,  w'ho  had  been  distinguished  in  many 
an  Indian  battle. 

On  the  7th  September,  1794,  this  formidable  army  of  invasion 
set  out  for  Nickajack  ;  and  although  the  route  had  been  unexplored, 
and  the  mountains  and  river  lay  between  them  and  their  enemies, 
they  had  counted  the  cost,  fitted  out  their  boats,  and  had  resolved 
to  strike  a  blow  that  would  teach  the  lawless  Indians  a  severe  lesson. 

The  troops  made  a  forced  march,  reached  the  Tennessee  river  just 


100  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

after  dark  on  the  fourth  day,  and  in  thirty  minutes  had  their  raw- 
hide boats  afloat  in  the  river,  ready  to  bear  over  the  arms.  They 
immediately  began  to  cross  the  river,  landing  a  short  distance  below 
the  town  of  Nickajack.  Most  of  the  men  swam  over  in  perfect 
silence,  their  arms  and  clothes  being  conveyed  in  the  boats,  and  on 
rafts  rudely  constructed  of  bundles  of  canes.  In  order  to  guide  the 
swimmers,  a  very  small  fire  was  kindled  at  the  water's  edge,  by  the 
party  which  first  crossed.  Out  of  six  hundred,  only  two  hundred 
and  thirty  could  be  induced  to  cross  over ;  some  holding  back  be- 
cause they  could  not  swim,  and  others  because  they  were  subject  to 
the  cramp ;  while  others,  no  doubt,  reflecting  upon  the  number  of 
the  enemy,  and  the  difficulty  of  a  retreat  when  once  across  so  wide  a 
river,  did  not  feel  quite  willing  "  to  stand  the  hazard  of  the  die." 
But  in  the  face  of  appalling  dangers,  some  men  showed  a  stout- 
heartedness which  might  have  done  honor  to  the  bravest  of  the 
brave.  A  young  man  by  the  name  of  Joseph  B.  Porter,  who  could 
not  swim  at  all,  tied  an  armful  of  dry  canes  together,  and  nothing 
daunted,  plunged  into  the  rapid  river,  and  kicked 'himself  over  in 
safety.  Young  Brown,  although  still  lame  in  one  arm,  from  the 
wound  he  had  received  in  the  Indian  ambuscade,  plunged  into  the 
river,  and  swam  safely  over.  At  daylight  there  were  two  hundred 
and  thirty  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Tennessee,  within  half  a  mile  of 
Nickajack,  and  yet  they  were  undiscovered.  Leaving  Brown,  with 
twenty  picked  men,  to  guard  the  crossing  of  the  creek,  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  town,  with  instructions  to  meet  them  in  the  centre  of  the 
town  as  soon  as  he  heard  their  fire,  the  main  body  turned  towards 
the  town,  and  came  down  upon  it  from  above. 

Although  Nickajack  contained  about  three  hundred  warriors,  they 
were  so  completely  surprised  that  they  made  little  resistance  ;  but 
flying  precipitately,  took  to  their  canoes,  and  attempted  to  cross  the 
river.  Some  fled  to  Running  Water,  and  others  secreted  thomselves 
in  the  thickets.  The  whole  town  ran  with  blood.  About  seventy 
warriors  were  slain,  and  a  large  number  of  women  and  children  were 
taken  prisoners.  Young  Brown  carried  the  lower  end  of  the  town 
manfully,  killing  several  warriors,  and  talcing  some  prisoners.  In 


JANE   BROWN.  101 

one  instance,  he  killed  an  Indian  warrior  in  single  combat,  and  car- 
ried away  his  scalp. 

As  soon  as  Nickajack  was  taken,  a  detachment  was  sent  to  destroy 
Running  Water.  On  the  way,  the  Indians  met  them,  and  after  an 
obstinate  resistance,  gave  way,  but  not  till  they  had  wounded  three 
Americans,  one  of  them,  Joshua  Thomas,  mortally.  Running  Water 
was  also  taken,  and  both  towns  immediately  reduced  to  ashes. 
Among  the  dead,  Brown  recognized  the  body  of  Breath,  the  ge- 
nerous chief  who  had  adopted  him  into  his  family  when  he  was  a 
prisoner.  In  the  towns,  many  articles  of  stolen  property,  which 
were  recognized  as  belonging  to  men  who  had  been  killed  in  Cum- 
berland Valley,  were  found.  In  addition  to  these,  fresh  scalps  were 
found  in  Nickajack,  as  well  as  a  number  of  letters,  taken  by  the  In- 
dians from  the  mail-bags,  after  having  killed  the  rider.  They  also 
found  a  quantity  of  powder  and  lead,  recently  sent  by  the  Spanish 
government  to  these  Indians. 

Never  was  a  visitation  of  this  kind  so  justly  merited  as  it  was  by 
these  towns.  They  were  the  principal  crossing-places  for  the  war- 
parties  of  Creeks,  Shawnees,  and  Cherokees,  who  went  to  harass  the 
Cumberland  and  Kentucky  settlements.  But  two  days  before  their 
destruction,  a  war  dance  was  held  there,  at  which  were  several  Chero- 
kee chiefs,  as  well  as  Creeks,  who  had  resolved  to  wage  a  still  more 
relentless  war  on  the  frontiers. 

While  Brown  could  not  but  feel  that  the  hand  of  Providence  had 
signally  punished  these  towns  for  their  outrage  on  his  family,  his 
exultation  was  prevented  by  the  death  of  his  brother-in-law,  Joshua 
Thomas,  a  brave  soldier  and  a  kind,  generous  friend,  who  was  the 
only  one  slain  by  the  enemy  on  this  occasion. 

The  prisoners  recognized  young  Brown,  and  alarmed  for  their 
safety,  pleaded  with  him  to  save  their  lives,  saying  that  his  life  had 
once  been  spared  by  them.  He  assured  them  that  they  were  in  no 
danger ;  that  the  white  people  never  killed  prisoners,  women  and 
children. 

This  blow  was  so  unexpected  and  successful,  that  it  inspired  the 
Cherokees  with  a  sincere  desire  for  peace,  which  they  soon  after 


102  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE  WEST. 

concluded,  and  never  again  violated.  Soon  after  this  affair,  young 
George  Brown  was  liberated  by  the  Creeks.  Joseph  returned  home 
and  lived  some  years  with  his  mother.  He  was  devoted  to  business, 
and  of  most  exemplary  conduct  in  every  relation  of  life.  He  soon 
attached  himself  to  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead's  congregation,  near 
Hayesboro',  and  was  made  an  elder  in  the  church. 

For  several  years,  he  and  his  mother  and  brothers  memorialized 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  reimburse  them  for  the  goods 
and  slaves  taken  from  them  in  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Hopewell. 
But  their  claims  were  still  unregarded,  and  still  delayed,  year  after 
year.  In  1806,  a  treaty  was  finally  concluded  with  the  Indians 
which  opened  all  the  lands  on  Duck  river  to  the  occupation  of  those 
who  had  located  their  warrants  there.  Thus  Mrs.  Brown  and  her 
children  came  into  possession  of  a  large  and  splendid  tract  of  land 
south  of  Columbia,  to  which  she. soon  after  removed  with  her  son 
Joseph. 

During  the  Creek  war  of  1812,  a  large  number  of  Cherokee 
Indians  offered  their  services  to  Gen.  Jackson  against  their  red 
brethren.  Gen.  Jackson  immediately  wrote  to  Joseph  Brown,  who 
had  lately  been  elected  colonel  by  his  neighbors,  requesting  him  to 
consent  to  command  a  regiment  of  Cherokee  Indians.  This  he 
promptly. agreed  to  do,  and  started  to  join  the  army  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  however,  never  took  charge  of  the  Indians,  but  served 
with  the  army,  as  aid  to  Gen.  Robards,  as  well  as  interpreter  and 
guide. 

He  was  thus  a  participant  in  the  battle  of  Talladega,  and  had 
the  honor  of  leading  and  conducting  a  charge  upon  the  most  hotly 
contested  part  of  the  Indian  lines.  During  this  campaign  Brown 
again  met  Charles  Butler,  the  nephew  of  Kiachatalee,  and  learned 
from  him  that  the  old  Tuskegee  chief,  Cutty-a-toy,  was  still  alive. 
He  learned  also  that  he  was  then  living  on  an  island  in  the  Tennes- 
see river,  near  the  mouth  of  Elle  river,  and  that  he  had  with  hi  in 
several  negroes,  the  descendants  of  the  woman  taken  by  him  at 
Nickajack,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1788. 

Col.  Brown  had  at  that  time  a  claim  before  Congress  for  the 


JANE    BROWN.  103 

value  of  those  negroes,  but  had  always  been  put  off  by  reason  of 
some  defect  in  the  proof  as  to  their  value,  or  some  other  matter  of 
form.  He  now  determined  that,  as  his  negroes  were  still  in  the 
hands  of  the  original  wrong-doer,  the  Tuskegee  chief,  he  would  get 
possession  of  them,  and  carry  them  home.  He  stated  to  General 
Jackson  the  facts  of  the  case,  demanded  of  him  and  obtained  an 
order  appointing  a  mixed  commission  of  American  and  Cherokee 
officers,  to  value  the  negroes  of  Cutty-a-toy.  The  Cherokees  had 
long  been  at  peace  with  the  whites,  and  were  now  in  alliance  with 
them  against  the  Creeks,  and  under  such  circumstances  there  was 
friendly  intercourse  between  them. 

With  ten  picked  men,  Brown  proceeded  to  the  island,  went  to 
the  head  man's  lodge,  exhibited  to  him  Gen.  Jackson's  order,  and 
demanded  that  Cutty-a-toy's  slaves  should  be  immediately  sent  over 
to  Fort  Hampton,  to  be  valued,  in  pursuance  of  said  order.  The 
head  man  sent  for  Cutty-a-toy,  and  it  was  immediately  agreed  that 
all  would  go  to  the  fort  the  next  morning.  % 

The  next  morning,  the  negroes,  Cutty-a-toy,  his  wife,  and  some 
friends,  went  with  Col.  Brown  to  the  Fort.  In  crossing  the  river 
Brown  and  his  men  took  up  the  negroes  and  Cutty-a-toy's  wife 
behind  them,  to  carry  over  the  water,  while  the  Indian  men  crossed 
on  a  raft  higher  up. 

When  he  reached  the  fort  he  directed  his  men  to  proceed  with 
the  negroes  towards  Ditto's  landing,  while  he  turned  into  the  fort 
with  Cutty-a-toy's  wife,  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  Indians.  He  im- 
mediately called  on  the  commandant  of  the  fort,  Col.  Williams, 
stated  the  history  of  the  case,  the  order  of  Gen.  Jackson,  the  failure 
of  Congress  to  pay  for  the  slaves,  and  the  fact  that  they  were  now 
in  his  possession ;  and  frankly  asked  him  what  course  he  would 
pursue,  under  the  circumstances.  "Take  the  negroes  home  with 
•you,"  said  the  Colonel ;  u  and  if  you  wish  to  do  it,  and  have  not 
men  enough,  I  will  give  you  more." 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Cutty-a-toy  and  his  followers,  they  were 
invited  into  the  fort,  and  Col.  Brown  made  known  to  him  that  he 
had  sent  the  negroes  off,  but  was  willing  for  the  commissioners  to 


104:  PIONEEK   WOMEN   OF  THE   WEST. 

proceed  to  value  them.  The  Indian  became  enraged.  At  last,  in 
the  midst  of  the  garrison,  officers  and  men,  and  the  Indians,  CoL 
Brown  gave  a  brief  narrative  of  the  murder  of  his  father  by  Cutty-a- 
toy 's  party,  the  murder  of  his  brothers,  and  the  captivity  of  his 
mother,  small  brother  and  sisters ;  of  the  capture  of  the  slaves  by 
Cutty-a-toy,  and  his  attempt  on  the  life  of  Col.  Brown  himself,  the^n 
a  boy  at  the  house  of  the  French  trader ;  of  his  being  saved  at  the 
intercession  of  the  trader's  wife,  and  the  Indian's  desire  to  save  the 
life  of  his  captive  negro  woman.  "  It  is  now,"  said  Col.  Brown, 
u  nearly  twenty-five  years,  and  yet  during  all  that  time  you  have  had 
the  negro  and  her  children  as  your  slaves,  and  they  have  worked 
for  you ;  and  yet  you  got  them  by  .the  murder  of  my  father  and 
brothers !  You  made  me  an  orphan  and  a  beggar,  when  but  for 
you,  I  had  begun  the  world  with  the  smiles  of  a  father,  and  the 
comforts  of  a  home  provided  by  his  care.  For  this  wrong,  this 
crime,  Cutty-a-toy,  you  deserve  to  die  !" 

Here  Cutty-a-toy  hung  his  head,  and  said,  "  It  is  all  true :  do 
witn  me  as  you  please.'7 

The  soldiers  who  stood  around,  many  of  them  the  neighbors  of 
Col.  Brown,  said,  "  Kill  him  !  he  ought  to  die."  But  Brown  was 
now  a  Christian,  and  had  long  since  ceased  to  cherish  feelings  of 
revenge  against  the  savage  murderer  of  his  father. 

"  No,  no,  Cutty-a-toy,"  he  proceeded,  "  although  you  deserve  to 
die,  and  at  my  hands,  yet  I  will  not  kill  you.  If  I  did  not  worship 
the  Great  Spirit  who  rules  all  things,  I  would  'slay  you  ;  but  ven- 
geance is  his,  and  I  will  leave  you  to  answer  to  him  for  your  crimes ! 
I  will  not  stain  my  hands  with  your  blood  ;  you  are  now  old,  and 
must  soon  go  down  to  the  grave,  and  answer  to  that  Great  Spirit 
for  the  life  you  have  led.  Live  and  repent." 

Here  Cutty-a-toy  assumed  a  bolder  front,  and -said,  by  certain 
treaties  made  in  1794,  this  property  was  guaranteed  to  him,  and 
that  he  would  sue  Brown  in  the  Federal  Courts,  as  some  other 
Indians  named  by  him  had  done,  in  similar  cases ;  but  he  finally 
agreed,  if  Brown  would  give  him  a  young  negro  fellow,  he  might 


JANE   BROWN.  105 

take  the  rest,  including  two  women  and  some  children,  which  was 
generously  done. 

Thus  the  fortunes  of  war,  controlled  by  the  steady  perseverance 
of  her  son,  at  length  restored  to  Mrs.  Brown  a  part  of  her  long-lost 
property.  Many  years  afterwards,  when  Gen.  Jackson  became 
President,  Col.  Brown  finally  obtained  an  allowance  from  Congress 
for  a  part  of  the  property  lost  by  his  father  in  1788.  In  1810,  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  and  in 
1823,  a  regular  ordained  minister  of  that  Church. 

Having  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninety,  and  never  having  re- 
married, but  always  making  her  home  with  her  son  Joseph,  Mrs. 
Brown  left  this  world  of  vexation  and  sorrow,  for  such  it  had  been 
to  her,  at  her  son's  residence  in  Maury  County,  Tennessee.  Hers  was 
a  most  eventful  life,  full  of  trials  almost  beyond  human  endurance  ; 
yet  she  did  not  murmur,  but  tried  to  see  in  all  her  afflictions  the 
kind  guidance  of  a  wise  Providence. 

George,  soon  after  his  release  from  captivity,  emigrated  to  the 
South,  and  after  nearly  fifty  years*  honorable  citizenship  near  Wood- 
ville,  Mississippi,  died  in  the  bosom  of  his  family.  The  captive 
daughter,  Jane,  whose  release  was  due  to  the  manly  courage  of  her 
youthful  brother,  was  married  to  a  Mr.  Collingsworth,  and  became 
with  him  a  citizen  of  Texas  as  early  as  1819,  where  her  children  yet 
reside. 

The  history  possesses  all  the  attractions  of  a  romance  ;  yet  it  is 
but  a  plain  sad  story  of  trials  and  sufferings  incident  to  the  period 
and  to  border  life.  The  only  survivor  of  that  pioneer  family 
is  the  Rev.  Joseph  Brown,  of  Maury  County,  better  known  as  Col. 
Brown.  From  notes  and  memoranda  furnished  by  him,  the  princi- 
pal details  of  this  narrative  have  been  written.  It  cannot  fail  to  be 
useful  to  the  future  historian  of  Tennessee,  yet  Haywood,  in  his 
history  of  five  hundred  pages,  only  makes  the  following  allusion 
to  the  facts  contained  in  this  narrative.  Speaking  of  the  treaty  of 
peace  made  at  Tellico,  October  20,  1.795,  between  the  people  of 
Tennessee,  and  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  they  (the  Creeks,)  says  the 
historian,  "  at  this  time  delivered  up  Brown,  son  of  Mrs.  Brown, 
5* 


106  PIONEEK    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

formerly  a  prisoner  in  the  Creek  nation."  How  inadequate  is 
such  a  notice  to  do  justice  either  to  the  sufferings  of  Mrs.  Brown 
and  her  children,  or  to  the  generous,  protection  of  the  Creek 
chieftain  to  whom  they  were  indebted  for  their  deliverance  !  For 
notwithstanding  the  "  obloquy  which  both  history  and  tradition 
have  thrown  upon  the  characters  of  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  war- 
riors, some  bright  gleams  occasionally  break  through,  which  throw 
a  melancholy  lustre  over  their  memories."  But  a  large  portion  of 
the  pioneer  history  of  Tennessee  has  never  been  written.  Keplete 
with  incidents  and  heroic  deeds  which  might  challenge  the  admi- 
ration of  the  world,  yet  all  that  has  been  written  by  Haywood  and 
others  would  scarcely  serve  as  a  thread  to  guide  the  future  historian 
through  the  labyrinth  of  events  which  crowded  upon  the  infant 
colonies  of  the  Holston  and  the  Cumberland, 


In  1792  the  family  of  Joseph  Wilson,  who  was  a  pioneer  in  the 
Cumberland  Valley,  from  Carolina,  was  living  at  Zeigler's  Station  in 
what  is  now  Sumner  County,  Tennessee.  This  station  was  neat 
Cumberland  River,  a  few  miles  from  Bledsoe's  Lick,  but  being 
nearer  the  frontier,  was  more  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  Indians. 
It  was  only  a  small  picketted  fort,  with  a  blockhouse,  and  con- 
tained but  thirteen  men,  including  a  son  of  Wilson,  not  yet  grown. 
Near  the  fort  was  a  small  farm  which  was  cultivated  by  the  inmates 
of  the  station.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  26th  of  June,  1792,  a  large 
party,  of  Creek  Indians  assaulted  the  station,  but  after  a  severe  con- 
test in  which  several  of  the  defenders  were  killed  and  wounded,  the 
savages  were  repulsed.  There  being  no  surgeon  in  the  party,  a 
messenger  was  despatched  to  a  neighboring  station  for  a  physician 
to  attend  the  wounded,  and  for  aid  to  repel  any  new  assault  which 
mi^ht  be  made.*  Before  either  surgeon  or  aid  arrived,  however,  the 
Indians  renewed  the  assault,  and  night  coming  on,  they  succeeded 
in  setting  fire  to  the  buildings,  which  spread  with  such  rapidity,  that 
the  assailed  were  compelled  to  decide  between  instant  destruction  by 


SARAH    WILSON.  107 

the  flames  and  a  cruel  and  lingering  death  by  the  hands  of  the  sav- 
ages. Five  of  the  defenders  were  already  slain,  and  four  others 
wounded.  In  this  moment  of  extreme  peril,  Mrs.  Wilson  urged  her 
husband  to  attempt  to  break  through  the  lines  of  the  savages,  and 
make  his  escape.  It  was  probable  they  would  spare  her  life,  and 
those  of  her  young  children,  but  for  him  death  was  certain,  unless 
he  could  make  his  escape  by  a  sudden  sortie  from  the  blockhouse. 
Wilson  hesitated,  and  feeling  the  horror  of  his  situation,  seemed  to 
prefer  death  with  his  family,  to  leaving  his  wife  and  children  to  the 
cruelty  of  the  foe ;  but  his  heroic  wife  urged  him  for  her  sake  to 
leave  her,  saying  that  she  would  be  safer  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians 
without  him  than  with  him.  The  same  appeal  was  made  to  another 
man  who  was  unhurt,  but  he  refused  to  leave  the  fort.  But  a  few 
minutes  remained ;  the  liames  were  sweeping  over  the  roof  of  the 
block-house,  and  the  assailants  stood  around  with  rifles  and  their 
hatchets  to  strike  down  any  one  who  attempted  to  escape.  In  this 
dreadful  moment  Wilson  yielded  to  his  wife's  entreaties,  bade  his  son, 
a  lad  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age  follow,  and  dashing  boldly  out  of 
the  flaming  building,  was  followed  by  his  son.  Several  shots  were 
instantly  fired,  one  of  which  took  effect  in  Wilson's  foot,  but  father 
and  son  passed  beyond  the  lines  of  the  assailants,  pursued  by  yelling 
savages  as  they  fled.  Becoming  sick  from  the  loss  of  blood,  Wil- 
son secreted  himself  in  a  clump  of  bushes  in  the  field,  while  his 
son  went  on  to  obtain  a  horse  from  a  neighboring  field.  As  he  lay 
thus  concealed  some  pursuing  savages  passed  within  a  few  feet  of  his 
hiding-place,  but  fortunately  missed  him.  The  lurid  flames  of  the 
burning  block -house,  meanwhile,  revealed,  as  he  thought,  the  fate  of 
his  wife  and  children. 

As  soon  as  her  son  and  husband  had  disappeared,  Mrs.  Wilson, 
with  an  infant  in  her  arms,  and  followed  by  five  small  children,  the 
eldest  a  lovely  girl  about  ten  years  old,  walked  slowly  out  of  the 
block-house,  expecting  each  instant  to  receive  the  fatal  blow ;  but 
yielding  to  a  generous  impulse  aiid  perhaps  not  unwilling  to  obtain 
captives,  who  might  be  made  slaves,  the  Indian  warriors  spared  her 
life,  and  made  her  and  her  children  prisoners.  All  the  rest  of  the 


108  PIONEEE    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

inmates  of  the  fort  were  killed  or  burned,  except  the  man  who  had 
been  dispatched  for  succor  and  a  surgeon,  both  of  which  failed  to 
arrive  till  the  station  was  in  ashes,  and  the  assailants  had  retreated 
towards  their  nation  with  their  prisoners.  Capt.  Alfred  Wilson,  a 
relation  of  Joseph  Wilson,  came  with  a  party  of  friends  to  the  help 
of  the  besieged,  but  came  only  in  time  to  discover  the  blackened 
and  charred  bones  of  those  who  were  burned. 

In  the  meantime,  young  Wilson  obtained  horses,  returned  to  the 
place  of  his  father's  concealment,  and  after  having  with  difficulty 
placed  him  on  one  of  the  horses,  conveyed  him  to  Bledsoe's  Station. 
A  party  of  the  soldiers  hastily  assembled,  pursued,  but  did  not  over- 
take the  retreating  savages,  and  thus  Mrs.  Wilson  and  her  children 
were  carried,  as  captives,  into  the  White  Grounds,  in  the  Upper 
Creek  Nation. 

In  a  few  weeks  Gov.  Blount  arrived  at  Nashville,  and  called  into 
service  three  hundred  men,  in  order  to  defend  the  frontiers,  but  the 
many  women  and  children  who  were  captives  in  the  Creek  Towns 
were  left  to  languish  in  a  barbarous  country. 

Mrs.  Wilson  was  the  sister  of  Col.  White  of  Knoxville,  and 
through  his  interposition,  after  more  than  twelve  months'  captivity, 
was,  with  all  her  children  (except  her  eldest  daughter,)  restored  to 
her  home.  Few  persons  can  now  imagine  the  painful  suspense  in 
which  Wilson  and  his  wife  spent  that  year  of  separation.  An  aged 
pioneer  matron,*  who  resided  near  Bledsoe's  Lick  during  this  period, 
has  said  that  Wilson  seemed  to  her  to  have  been  the  most  unhappy 
man  in  the  world,  during  the  year  of  his  wife's  captivity. 

Although  the  family  was  now  again  restored  to  a  happy  reunion, 
yet  their  home  circle  lacked  one  bright-eyed  prattler,  yet  in  slavery 
and  exile  among  her  savage  captors.  It  was  not  until  after  the 
destruction  of  Nickajack  and  Kunning  Water,  that  young  Sally 
Wilson  was  restored  to  the  arms  of  her  parents.  And  then  how 
changed !  During  her  captivity,  she  had  forgotten  her  own  lan- 
guage and  her  people,  and  for  several  months  sighed  for  her  forest 
home!  But  soon  regaining  her  language,  with  it  came  also  the 

*  Mrs.  Shelby. 


SARAH   WILSON.  109 

remembrance  of  home  and  friends,  and  the  home  circle  was  again 
complete. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  lived  many  years  after  this  terrible  expe- 
rience of  pioneer  life,  and  reared  their  children  to  usefulness  and 
honor.  Many  of  their  descendants  yet  reside  in  Tennessee,  while 
not  a  few,  seeking  a  better  home  in  the  far  West,  have  adventured, 
like  their  sires,  into  the  deep  solitudes  of  the  wilderness,  where 
they  too  may  yet  experience  some  of  the  dark  trials  of  their 
ancestors. 


VI 

MARY    MOORE. 

BEFORE  proceeding  to  sketches  illustrating  a  later  period,  it  will  be 
proper  to  take  a  view  of  the  early  condition  of  that  portion  of  Vir- 
ginia, which,  lying  on  the  sunset  side  of  the  great  range  of  moun- 
tains, belonged  to  the  West.  De  Hass,  in  his  History  of  the  Indian 
Wars  of  Western  Virginia,  says  that  before  1749,  the  country  was 
untrodden  by  foot  of  white  man,  except  occasional  traders  who  may 
have  ventured  on  the  heads  of  some  of  the  tributary  streams  rising 
in  the  Alleghany  mountains.  It  is  said  that  in  this  year  a  lunatic 
wandered  into  the  wilderness  of  the  Greenbriar  country,  and  on 
returning  home,  told  his  friends  he  had  discovered  livers  flowing  in 
a  westward  direction.  His  report  induced  two  pioneers  to  enter  the 
mountain  wild,  where  they  were  found  in  1751  by  the  agent  for 
the  Greenbriar  company.  Further  attempts  to  colonize  the  country 
were  not  made  for  some  years.  The  first  permanent  settlements  by 
Zane  and  Tomlinson,  were  at  or  near  Wheeling ;  hardy  emigrants 
followed,  and  pushed  into  the  fine  regions  along  the  Upper  Monon- 
gahela.  When  it  became  known  that  outposts  were  established  on 
the  confines  of  civilization,  hundreds  pressed  forward  to  join  the 
adventurous  settlers,  and  secure  homes  in  the  forest  domain. 

"  The  escape  of  Mrs.  Denis,  who  had  been  taken  captive  in  the 


MRS.    DENIS.  Ill 

James  river  settlement,  in  1761,  presents  a  parallel  to  narratives  of 
female  captives  in  the  early  history  of  the  settlement  of  New 
England.  Her  husband  having  been  slain,  after  being  taken 
captive,  the  Indians  took  her  over  the  mountains  and  through  the 
forests  to  the  Chilicothe  towns  north  of  the  Ohio.  There  she 
seemed  to  conform  to  their  ways,  painted  and  dressed  herself,  and 
lived  as  a  squaw.  Added  to  this,  she  gained  fame  by  attending  to 
the  sick,  both  as  a  nurse  and  a  physician ;  and  became  so  celebrated 
for  her  cures,  as  to  obtain  from  that  superstitious  people  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  a  necromancer,  and  the  honor  paid  to  a  person 
supposed  to  have  power  with  the  Great  Spirit. 

"  In  1763  she  left  them,  under  the  pretext  of  obtaining  medicinal 
herbs,  as  she  had  often  done  before.  Not  returning  at  night,  her 
object  was  suspected,  and  she  was  pursued.  To  avoid  leaving 
traces  of  her  path,  she  crossed  the  Scioto  three  times,  and  was 
making  her  fourth  crossing  forty  miles  below  the  towns,  when  she 
was  discovered,  and  fired  upon  without  effect.  But  in  the  speed  of 
her  flight,  she  wounded  her  foot  with  a  sharp  stone,  so  as  to  be 
unable  to  proceed.  The  Indians  had  crossed  the  river,  and  were 
just  behind  her.  She  eluded  their  pursuit  by  hiding  in  a  hollow 
sycamore  log.  They  frequently  stepped  on  the  log  that  concealed 
her,  and  encamped  near  it  for  the  night.  Next  morning  they  pro- 
ceeded in  their  pursuit  of  her;  and  she  started  in  another  direction 
as  fast  as  her  lameness  would  permit,  but  was  obliged  to  remain 
near  that  place  three  days.  She  then  set  off  for  the  Ohio,  over 
which  she  rafted  herself  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  on  a 
drift  log ;  travelling  only  by  night  through  fear  of  discovery,  and 
subsisting  only  on  roots,  wild  fruits,  and  the  river  shell-fish.  She 
reached  the  Green  Briar,  having  passed  forests,  rivers,  and  moun- 
tains, for  more  than  three  hundred  miles.  Here  she  sank  down 
exhausted,  and  resigned  herself  to  die,  when  providentially  she  was 
discovered  by  some  of  the  people  of  that  settlement,  and  hospitably 
treated  at  one  of  their  habitations."* 

The  settlement  was  made  to  suffer  severely  for  this  hospitable  act. 

*  Flint— Indian  Wars  of  the  West. 


112  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

"  A  party  of  fifty  or  sixty  Shawanese,  coming  under  the  garb  of 
friendship,  suddenly  fell  upon  the  men,  butchering  every  one  of 
them,  and  made  captives  of  the  women  and  children.  They  next 
visited  the  Levels,  where  Archibald  Clendenin  had  erected  a  rude 
block-house,  and  where  were  gathered  quite  a  number  of  families — 
and  were  here  again  entertained  with  hospitality.  Mr.  Clendenin 
had  just  brought  in  three  fine  elk,  upon  which  the  savages  feasted 
sumptuously.  One  of  the  inmates  was  a  decrepid  old  woman, 
with  an  ulcerated  limb ;  she  undressed  the  member,  and  asked  the 
Indian  if  he  could  cure  it.  4  Yes,'  he  replied ;  and  immediately 
sunk  his  tomahawk  into  her  head.  This  was  the  signal,  and  in- 
stantly every  man  in  the  house  was  put  to  death. 

"  The  cries  of  the  women  and  children  alarmed  a  man  in  the 
yard,  who  escaped  and  reported  the  circumstances  to  the  settlement 
at  Jackson's  river.  The  people  were  loth  to  believe  him,  but  were 
soon  convinced,  for  the  savages  appeared,  and  many  of  the  flying 
families  were  massacred  without  mercy.  The  prisoners  were  then 
marched  off  in  the  direction  of  the  Ohio.  Mrs.  Clendenin  proved 
herself  in  that  trying  moment  a  woman  fit  to  be  one  of  the  mothers 
of  the  West.  Indignant  at  the  treachery  and  cowardly  conduct  of 
the  wretches,  she  did  not  fail  to  abuse  them  from  the  chief  down,  in 
the  most  unmeasured  manner.  The  savages,  to  intimidate  her, 
would  flap  the  bloody  scalp  of  her  dead  husband  against  her  face, 
and  significantly  twirl  their  tomahawks  above  her  head,  but  still  the 
courageous  woman  talked  to  them  like  one  who  felt  her  injuries  and 
resolved  to  express  the  feeling.  On  the  day  after  her  captivity,  she 
had  an  opportunity  to  escape,  and  giving  her  infant  to  a  woman, 
slipped  unobserved  into  a  thicket.  The  child  soon  beginning  to 
cry,  one  of  the  Indians  inquired  concerning  the  mother ;  but  getting 
no  satisfactory  reply,  swore  he  would  *  bring  the  cow  to  the  calf,' 
and  taking  the  infant  by  the  heels  dashed  out  its  brains  against  a 
tree.  Mrs.  Clendenin  returned  to  her  desolate  home,  and  secured 
the  remains  of  her  husband  from  the  rapacious  jaws  of  the  wild 
animals  with  which  the  woods  abounded.  It  is  stated  that  a  black 
woman,  in  escaping  from  Clendenin's  house,  killed  her  own  child  to 


MES.   CUNNINGHAM.  113 

prevent  its  cries  attracting  the  attention  of  the  savages.  Such  were 
some  of  the  horrid  realities  endured  by  the  first  settlers  of 'Western 
Virginia."* 

Early  in  1778,  an  attack  was  made  on  a  block-house  in  the 
country  of  the  Upper  Monongahela.  The  children  allowed  to  play 
outside,  discovered  Indians,  and  running  in,  gave  the  alarm.  "  John 
Murphy  stepped  to  the  door,  when  one  of  the  Indians,  turning  the 
corner  of  the  house,  fired  at  him.  The  ball  took  effect,  and 
Murphy  fell  into  the  house.  The  Indian  springing  in,  was  grappled 
by  Harbert,  and  thrown  on  the  floor.  A  shot  from  without 
wounded  Harbert,  yet  he  continued  to  maintain  his  advantage 
over  the  prostrate  savage,  striking  him  as  effectually  as  he  could 
with  his  tomahawk,  when  another  gun  was  fired  from  without,  the 
ball  passing  through  his  head.  His  antagonist  then  slipped  out  at 
the  door,  badly  wounded  in  the  encounter. 

"  Just  after  the  first  Indian  entered,  an  active  young  warrior, 
holding  a  tomahawk  with  a  long  spike  at  the  end,  came  in. 
Edward  Cunningham  instantly  drew  up  his  gun,  but  it  flashed,  and 
they  closed  in  doubtful  strife.  Both  were  active  and  athletic  ;  each 
put  forth  his  strength,  and  strained  ^every  nerve  to  gain  the  ascen- 
dency. For  awhile  the  issue  seemed  doubtful.  At  length,  by 
great  exertion,  Cunningham  wrenched  the  tomahawk  from  the 
hand  of  the  Indian,  and  buried  the  spike  end  to  the  handle  in  his 
back.  Mrs.  Cunningham  closed  the  contest.  Seeing  her  husband 
struggling  with  the  savage,  she  struck  at  him  with  an  axe.  The 
edge  wounding  his  face  severely,  he  loosened  his  hold,  and  made 
his  way  out  of  the  house.  The  third  Indian  who  had  entered 
before  the  door  was  closed,  presented  an  appearance  almost  as 
frightful  as  the  object  he  had  in  view.  He  wore  a  cap  made  of  the 
unshorn  front  of  a  buffalo,  with  the  ears  and  horn  still  attached, 
and  hanging  loosely  about  his  head.  On  entering  the  room,  this 
hideous  monster  aimed  a  blow  with  his  tomahawk  at  Miss  Reece, 
which  inflicted  a  severe  wound  on  her  hand.  The  mother,  seeing 
the  uplifted  weapon  about  to  descend  on  her  daughter,  seized  the 
*  See  De  Hass  for  this  and  following  anecdotes. 


114:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

monster  by  the  horns;  but  his  false  head  coming  off,  she  did  not 
succeed  in  changing  the  direction  of  the  weapon.  The  father  then 
caught  hold  of  him  ;  but  far  inferior  in  strength,  he  was  thrown  on 
the  floor,  and  would  have  been  killed,  but  for  the  interference  of 
Cunningham,  who  having  cleared  the  house  of  one  Indian,  wheeled 
and  struck  his  tomahawk  into  the  head  of  the  other.  During  all 
this  time,  the  door  was  kept  secure  by  the  women.  The  Indians 
from  without  endeavored  several  times  to  force  it,  and  would  at  one 
time  have  succeeded ;  but  just  as  it  was  yielding,  the  Indian  who 
had  been  wounded  by  Cunningham  and  his  wife,  squeezed  out, 
causing  a  momentary  relaxation  of  their  efforts,  and  enabled  the 
women  again  to  close  it. 

"  On  the  llth  of  April  some  Indians  visited  the  house  of  William 
Morgan,  on  Dunker's  bottom.  They  killed  his  mother  and  two  or 
.three  others,  and  took  the  wife  and  her  child  prisoners.  On  their 
way  home,  coming  near  Pricket's  fort,  they  bound  Mrs  Morgan  to  a 
bush,  and  went  in  quest  of  a  horse  for  her  to  ride,  leaving  the  child 
with  her.  She  succeeded  in  untying  with  her  teeth  the  bands 
which  confined  her,  and  wandered  all  that  day  and  part  of  the  next, 
before  she  came  within  sight  of  the  fort.  Here  she  was  kindly 
treated,  and  in  a  few  days  sent  home." 

Early  in  March,  1781,  a  party  of  Indians  came  to  the  house  of 
Capt.  John  Thomas,  on  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Monongahela. 
He  was  a  pious  man,  and  was  engaged  in  family  worship,  surrounded 
by  his  wife  and  seven  children,  when  the  Indians  approached  his 
cabin.  Anticipating  no  attack,  he  had  not  secured  his  house  so  well 
as  was  his  custom,  for  the  season  had  not  advanced  sufficiently  to 
cause  alarm.  He  had  just  repeated  a  line  of  the  hymn 

"  Go  worship  at  ImmanuePs  feet," 

when  the  savages  fired  ;  the  Christian  father  fell  dead,  and  the  mur- 
derers forcing  the  door,  entered  and  commenced  the  work  of  de*ath. 
Mrs.  Thomas  implored  their  mercy,  but  the  tomahawk  did  its  work, 
till  the  mother  and  six  children  lay  weltering  in  blood  by  the  fcide 


MBS.    SCOTT.  115 

of  the  slaughtered  father.  They  then  proceeded  to  scalp  the  fallen 
and  plunder  the  house,  and  departed,  taking  with  them  one  little 
boy,  a  prisoner. 

"  Elizabeth  Juggins,  whose  father  had  been  murdered  the  preced- 
ing year  in  that  neighborhood,  was  at  the  house  when  the  Indians 
came ;  but  as  soon  as  she  heard  the  report  of  the  gun  and  saw 
Capt.  Thomas  fall,  she  threw  herself  under  the  bed,  and  escaped  the 
observation  of  the  savages.  After  they  had  completed  the  work  of 
blood  and  left  the  house,  fearing  that  they  might  be  lingering  near, 
she  remained  in  that  concealment  till  the  house  was  found  to  be  on  fire. 
When  she  crawled  forth  from  her  asylum,  Mrs.  Thomas  was  still 
alive,  though  unable  to  move,  and  casting  a  pitying  glance  towards 
her  murdered  infant,  asked  that  it  might  be  handed  to  her.  On 
seeing  Miss  Juggins  about  to  leave  the  house,  she  exclaimed  *  Oh 
Betsey,  don't  leave  us !'  Still  anxious  for  her  own  safety,  the  girl 
rushed  out*  and  taking  refuge  for  the  night  between  two  logs,  in  the 
morning  early  spread  the  alarm.  When  the  scene  of  these  enormi- 
ties was  visited,  Mrs.  Thomas  was  found  in  the  yard,  much  mangled 
by  the  tomahawk  and  considerably  torn  by  hogs ;  she  had  perhaps, 
in  the  struggle  of  death,  thrown  herself  out  at  the  door.  The  house, 
with  Capt.  Thomas  and  the  children,  was  a  heap  of  ashes." 

On  the  29th  of  June,  1785,  the  house  of  Mr.  Scott,  a  citizen  of 
Washington  County,  Virginia,  was  attacked,  and  he  and  four  chil- 
dren butchered  on  the  spot.  He  and  the  family  had  retired,  except 
Mrs.  Scott,  who  was  undressing,  when  the  painted  savages  rushed  in 
and  commenced  the  work  of  death.  "  Scott  being  awake,  jumped 
up,  but  was  immediately  fired  at ;  he  forced  his  way  through  the 
midst  of  the  enemy  and  got  out  'of  the  door,  but  fell ;  an  Indian 
seized  Mrs.  Scott,  and  ordered  her  not  to  move  from  a  particular 
spot ;  others  stabbed  and  cut  the  throats  of  the  three  younger  children 
in  their  bed,  and  afterwards  lifting  them  up,  dashed  them  upon 
the  floor,  near  the  mother.  The  eldest,  a  beautiful  girl  eight  years 
old,  sprang  out  of  bed,  ran  to  her  parent,  and  in  the  most  plaintive 
accents  cried  '  0,  mamma,  mamma  !  save  me  !'  Tha  mother,  in  the 
deepest  anguish  of  spirit,  and  with  a  flood  of  tears,  entreated  the 


1J6  PIONEEK    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

savages  to  spare  her  child ;  but  with  brutal  ferocity  they  toma- 
hawked and  stabbed  her  in  the  mother's  arms.  Near  Scott's  dwell- 
ing lived  another  family  of  the  name  of  Ball :  the  Indians  attacked 
them  at  the  same  time ;  the  door  being  shut,  they  fired  into  the 
house  through  an  opening  between  two  logs,  and  killed  a  young- 
lad  ;  they  then  tried  to  force  the  door,  but  a  surviving  brother  fired 
through  and  drove  them  off;  the  rest  of  the  family  ran  out  of  the 
house  and  escaped.  In  Scott's  house  were  four  good  rifles,  well 
loaded,  and  a  good  deal  of  clothing  and  furniture,  part  of  which 
belonged  to  people  that  had  left  it  on  their  way  to  Kentucky.  The 
Indians,  thirteen  in  number,  loaded  themselves  with  the  plunder, 
then  speedily  made  off,  and  continued  travelling  all  night.  Next 
morning  their  chief  allotted  to  each  man  his  share,  and  detached  nine 
of  the  party  to  steal  horses  from  the  inhabitants  at  Clinch  river. 

"  The  eleventh  day  after  Mrs.  Scott's  captivity,  the  four  Indians  who 
had  her  in  charge  stopped  at  a  place  of  rendezvous  to  himt.  Three 
went  put,  and  the  chief  being  an  old  man,  was  left  to  take  care  of 
the  prisoner,  who  by  this  time  expressed  a  willingness  to  proceed  to 
the  Indian  towns,  which  seemed  to  have  the  desired  effect  of  loosen- 
ing her  keeper's  vigilance.  In  the  daytime,  as  the  old  man  was 
graning  a  deer  skin?  the  captive,  pondering  on  her  situation,  and 
anxiously  looking  for  an  opportunity  to  make  her  escape,  took  the 
resolution,  and  went  to  the  Indian  carelessly,  asking  liberty  to  go  a 
small  distance  to  a  stream  of  water,  to  wash  the  blood  off  her  apron, 
which  had  remained  besmeared  since  the  fatal  night  of  the  murder 
of  her  little  daughter.  He  said  in  English — '  Go  along  ;'  she  then 
passed  by  him,  his  face  being  in  a  contrary  direction  from  that  she 
was  going,  and  he  very  busy.  After  getting  to  the  water,  she  went 
on  without  delay  towards  a  high,  barren  mountain,  and  travelled 
until  late  in  the  evening,  when  she  came  down  into  the  valley  in 
search  of  the  track  she  had  been  taken  along,  hoping  thereby  to  find 
the  way  back  without  the  risk  of  being  lost  and  perishing  with 
hunger  in  uninhabited  parts.  That  night  she  made  herself  a  bed 
with  lea*ves,  and  the  next  day  resumed  her  wanderings.  Thus  did 
the  poor  woman  continue,  from  day  to  day,  and  week  to  week, 


MKS.    SCOTT.  117 

wandering  in  the  trackless  wilderness.  Finally,  on  the  eleventh  of 
August,  she  reached  a  settlement  on  Clinch  River  known  as  New 
Garden. 

"  Mrs.  Scott  related,  that  during  her  wanderings  from  the  lOih 
of  July  to  the  llth  of  August,  she  had  no  other  means  of  subsis- 
tence than  chewing  and  swallowing  the  juice  of  young  cane,  sassafras, 
and  some  plants  she  did  not  know  the  name  of;  that  on  her  jour- 
ney she  saw  buffaloes,  elk,  deer,  and  frequently  bears  and  wolves, 
not  one  of  which,  although  some  passed  very  near,  offered  to  do  her 
the  least  harm.  One  day  a  bear  came  near  her  with  a  young  fawn 
m  his  mouth,  and  on  discovering  her,  dropped  his  prey  and  ran  off. 
Hunger  prompted  her  to  try  and  eat  the  flesh,  but  on  reflection,  she 
desisted,  thinking  the  bear  might  return  and  devour  her  ;  besides, 
she  had  an  aversion  to  raw  meat.  She  long  continued  in  a  low 
state  of  health,  and  remained  inconsolable  for  the  loss  of  her  family, 
particularly  bewailing  the  cruel  death  of  her  little  daughter." 

One  of  the  most  melancholy  occurrences  on  Wheeling  Creek  was 
the  murder  of  two  sisters — the  Misses  Crow.  Three  of  them  left 
their  parents'  house  for  an  evening  walk  along  the  shaded  banks  of 
a  beautiful  stream — the  Dunkard,  or  lower  fork  of  the  Creek. 
u  Their  walk  extended  over  a  mile,  and  they  were  just  turning  back, 
when  suddenly  several  Indians  sprang  from  behind  a  ledge  of  rock, 
and  seized  all  three  of  the  sisters.  They  led  the  captives  a  short 
distance  up  a  bank,  when  a  halt  was  called,  and  a  parley  took  place. 
It  seems  that  some  of  the  Indians  were  in  favor  of  immediate 
slaughter,  while  others  were  disposed  to  carry  them  into  permanent 
captivity.  Unfortunately  the  arm  of  mercy  was  powerless.  With- 
out a  moment's  warning,  a  fierce  looking  savage  stepped  from  the 
group  with  elevated  tomahawk,  and  commenced  the  work  of  death. 
This  Indian,  said  the  surviving  sister,  4  began  to  tomahawk  Susan  ; 
she  dodged  her  head  to  one  side,  the  weapon  taking  effect  in 
her  neck,  cutting  the  large  neck  vein ;  the  blood  gushing  out  a  yard's 
length.  The  Indian  who  had  her  by  the  hand  jumped  back  to 
avoid  the  blood.  The  other  Indian  then  began  the  work  of  death 
on  my  sister  Mary.  I  gave  a  sudden  jerk  and  got  loose  from  the 


118  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

one  that  held  me,  ran  with  all  speed  and  took  up  a  steep  bank, 
gaining  the  top  safely.  Just  as  I  caught  hold  of  a  bush  to  help 
myself  up,  the  Indian  fired,  and  the  ball  passed  through  the  clump 
of  hair  on  my  head,  slightly  breaking  the  skin ;  the  Indian  taking 
round  to  meet  me  as  I  would  strike  the  path  that  led  homeward. 
But  I  ran  right  from  home,  and  hid  myself  in  the  bushes  near  the 
top  of  the  hill.  Presently  I  saw  an  Indian  passing  along  the  hill 
below  me  ;  I  lay  still  until  he  was  out  of  sight,  and  then  made  for 
home.'"  This  third  sister  was  Christina,  afterwards  Mrs.  John 
McBride,  of  Carlisle,  Monroe  County,  Ohio. 

u  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  March,  1789,  two  Indians 
appeared  on  the  premises  of  Mr.  Glass,  residing  a  few  miles  back  of 
the  present  town  of  Wellsburgh.  Mrs.  Glass  was  alone  in  the 
house,  except  an  infant  and  a  small  black  girl ;  was  engaged  in 
spinning,  and  had  sent  her  negro  woman  to  the  woods  for  sugar 
water.  In  a  few  moments  she  returned,  screaming  at  the  top  of  her 
voice,  '  Indians !  Indians !'  Mrs  Glass  jumped  up,  and  running  first 
to  the  window  and  then  to  the  door,  attempted  to  escape  ;  but  an 
Indian  met  her  and  presented  his  gun ;  she.  caught  hold  of  the 
muzzle,  turned  it  aside,  and  begged  him  not  to  kill  her.  The  other 
Indian  in  the  meantime  caught  the  negro  woman  and  brought  her 
into  the  house.  They  then  opened  a  chest  and  took  out  a  small 
box  and  some  articles  of  clothing,  and  without  doing  any  further 
damage,  departed  with  their  prisoners.  After  proceeding  about  a 
mile  and  a  half,  they  halted  and  held  a  consultation,  as  she  sup- 
posed, to  kill  the  children ;  this  she  understood  to  be  the  subject  by 
their  gestures.  To  one  of  the  Indians  who  could  speak  English, 
she  held  out  her  little  boy  and  begged  him  not  to  kill  him,  as  he 
would  make  a  fine  chief  after  a  while.  The  Indian  made  a  motion 
for  her  to  walk  on  with  the  child.  The  other  Indian  then  struck 
the  negro  child  with  the  pipe  end  of  his  tomahawk,  which  knocked 
it  down,  and  then,  by  a  blow  with  the  edge  across  the  back  of  the 
neck,  despatched  it.  About  four  o'clock  they  reached  the  river,  a 
mile  above  the  creek,  and  carried  a  canoe  which  had  been  thrown 
up  in  some  drift  wood,  into  the  river.  They  got  into  this  canoe  and 


MRS.    GLASS.  119 

worked  it  down  to  the  mouth  of  u  sh  run,  about  five  miles  ;  pulled 
the  canoe  into  the  mouth  of  the  stream  as  far  as  they  could,  and 
going  up  the"  run  about  a  mile,  encamped  for  the  night.  The 
Indians  gave  the  prisoners  all  their  own  clothes  for  covering,  and 
one  of  them  added  his  own  blanket ;  shortly  before  daylight  the  In- 
dians got  up,  and  put  another  blanket  over  them.  The  black  woman 
complained  much  on  account  of  the  loss  of  her  child,  and  they 
threatened  if  she  did  not  desist,  to  kill  her. 

"  About  sunrise  they  commenced  their  march  up  a  very  steep  hill 
and  at  two  o'clock  halted  on  Short  creek,  about  twenty  miles  from 
the  place  whence  they  set  out  in  the  morning.  The  spot  had  been 
an  encampment  shortly  before  as  well  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  the 
plunder  which  they  had  recently  taken  from  the  house  of  Mr.  Van- 
meter,  whose  family  had  been  killed.  The  plunder  was  deposited 
in  a  sycamore  tree.  They  had  tapped  some  sugar  trees  when  there 
before,  and  now  kindled  a  fire  and  put  on  a  brass  kettle,  with  a 
turkey  which  they  had  killed  on  the  way,  to  boil  in  sugar  water. 

"  Mr.  Glass  was  working  with  a  hired  man  in  a  field  about  a 
quarter  of.  a  mile  from  the  house,  when  his  wife  and  family  were 
taken,  but  knew  nothing  of  the  event  till  noon.  After  searching 
about  the  place,  and  going  to  several  families  in  quest  of  his  family, 
he  went  to  Well's  Fort,  collected  ten  men,  and  that  night  lodged  in 
a  cabin,  on  the  bottom  on  which  the  town  of  Wellsburg  now 
stands.  Next  morning  they  discovered  the  place  where  the  Indians 
had  taken  the  canoe  from  the  drift,  and  their  tracks  at  the  place  of 
embarkation.  Mr.  Glass  could  distinguish  the  track  of  his  wife  by 
the  print  of  the  high  heel  of  her  shoe.  They  crossed  the  river  and 
went  down  on  the  other  side  until  they  came  near  the  mouth  of 
Rush  run ;  but  discovering  no  tracks  of  the  Indians,  most  of  tho 
men  concluded  they  would  go  to  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  by 
svater,  and  therefore  wished  to  turn  back.  Mr.  Glass  begged  them 
to  go  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  Short  Creek,  which  was  only  two  or 
three  miles  ;  and  to  this  they  agreed.  When  they  got  to  the 
mouth  of  Rush  run,  they  found  the  canoe  of  the  Indians.  This 
was  identified  by  a  proof  which  shows  the  presence  of  mind  of  Mrs. 


120  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

Glass.  "While  passing  "down  the  river,  one  of  the  Indians  threw 
into  the  water  several  papers  which  he  had  taken  out, of  Mr.  Glass's 
trunk  ;  some  of  these  she  carelessly  picked  up,  and  under  pretence 
of  giving  them  to  the  child  dropped  them  into  the  bottom  of  the 
canoe.  These  left  no  doubt.  The  trail  of  the  Indians  and  their 
prisoners  up  the  run  to  their  camp,  and  then  up  the  river  hill,  was 
soon  discovered. 

"  About  an  hour  after  the  Indians  had  halted,  Glass  and  his  men 
came  in  sight  of  their  camp.  The  object  then  was  to  save  the  lives 
of  the  prisoners  by  attacking  the  Indians  so  unexpectedly  as  not  to 
allow  time  to  kill  them.  With  this  view  they  crept  along  till  they 
got  within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  camp.  Fortunately,  Mrs. 
Glass's  little  son  had  gone  to  a  sugar  tree,  but  not  being  able  to  get 
the  water,  his  mother  had  stepped  out  to  get  it  for  him.  The  negro 
woman  was  sitting  some  distance  from  the  two  Indians,  who  were 
looking  attentively  at  a  scarlet  jacket  which  they  had  taken  some 
time  before.  On  a  sudden  they  dropped  the  jacket,  and  turned 
their  eyes  towards  the  men,  who,  supposing  they  were  discovered, 
immediately  discharged  several  guns  and  rushed  upon  them  at  full 
speed,  with  an  Indian  yell.  One  of  the  Indians,  it  was  supposed, 
was  wounded  the  first  fire,  as  be  fell  and  dropped  his  gun  and  shot 
pouch.  After  running  about  one  hundred  yards,  a  second  shot  was 
fired  after  him,  which  brought  him  to  his  hands  and  knees ;  but 
there  was  no  time  for  pursuit,  as  the  Indians  had  informed  Mrs. 
Glass  that  there  was  another  encampment  close  by.  The  other 
Indian  at  the  first  fire,  ran  a  short  distance  beyond  Mrs.  Glass,  so 
that  she  was  in  a  right  line  between  him  and  the  white  men  ;  this 
artful  manoeuvre  no  doubt  saved  his  life,  as  his  pursuers  could  not 
shoot  at  him  without  risking  the  life  of  the  white  woman." 

The  party  reached  Beach  Bottom  fort  that  night.  Mrs.  Glass 
subsequently  married  a  Mr.  Brown,  and  was  long  a  resident  of 
Brooke  County. 


MART   MOOKE.  121 

"  In  the  burying-ground  of  New  Providence,  in  Rockbridge 
County,  Virginia,  there  is  a  grave,  surpassing  in  interest  all  sur- 
rounding graves.  It  is  by  the  side  of  the  resting-place  of  the 
pastor  of  the  people  who  worshipped  in  the  neighboring  church. 
Its  inhabitant  once  walked  by  his  side  a  cherished  one.*  His 
deep  blue,  sunken  eye,  that  flashed  so  fiercely  in  moments  of  indig- 
nation, always  beamed  sweetly  into  her  full,  jet-black  orbs,  that 
could  do  nothing  but  smile  or  weep.  But  those  smiles  and  tears 
charmed  equally  the  savages  in  the  wilderness,  and  Christian  people 
of  Providence. 

"  The  maiden  name  of  this  woman  was  Mary  Moore.  The 
melancholy  romance  of  her  early  days,  and  the  Christian  excellence 
of  her  mature  and  closing  years,  make  her  memory  immortal.  The 
history  of  the  destruction  of  the  retired  dwelling  of  her  father — his 
murder,  with  that  of  two  brothers  and  a  sister  on  a  fair  summer's 
morning — the  captivity  of  her  mother  and  herself,  with  a  brother 
and  two  sisters,  and  a  hired  girl,  the  murder  of  the  brother  and  one 
sister  on  the  way  to  the  wigwam  homes  of  their  captors — the 
death  by  fire  and  torture  of  her  mother  and  remaining  sister — the 
rescue  of  herself  and  the  hired  girl,  together  with  a  brother,  the 
captive  of  a  former  year,  and  their  return  to  their  relatives  in 
Virginia — combines  in  one  story  all  the  events  impending  over  the 
emigrant  families  taking  possession  of  the  rivers  and  valleys  of 
Western  Virginia." 

James  Moore,  whose  father,  of  Scottish  ancestry,  had  emigrated 
from  Ireland  to  Pennsylvania,  and  thence  to  Virginia,  married 
Martha  Poage,  and  Mary,  his  second  daughter,  was  born  in  his  new 
home  in  a  valley  on  the  waters  of  the  Blue  Stone,  a  branch  of  New 
River.  It  was  called  "  Apps'  Valley,"  from  Absalom  Looney,  a 
hunter,  "  supposed  to  be  the  first  white  man  who  disturbed  the 
solitude,  or  beheld  the  beauty  of  the  narrow  low  grounds  luxuriating 

*  This  memoir  is  taken  from  "  Sketches  of  Virginia,  Historical  and 
Biographical,"  by  Rev.  William  Henry  Foote,  D.D.,  portions  being  abridged. 
The  authentic  materials  were  obtained  by  him  from  Rev.  James  Morrison, 
the  son-in-law  and  successor  to  Rev.  Samuel  Brown. 


122  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

in  the  pea  vine  and  sweet  myrrh.  The  surrounding  and  distant 
scenery  partook  both  pf  the  grand  and  the  beautiful.  To  Mr. 
Moore,  the  valley  was  enchanting ;  and  being  out  of  the  track  of 
the  savages  in  their  war  incursions  eastward,  it  seemed  secure 
equally  from  the  vexations  of  the  civilized  and  the  savage. 

"  Mr.  Looney,  the  hunter,  built  his  cabin  a  mile  lower  down  the 
creek  ;  John  Poage  about  two  and  a  half  miles  above  ;  and  a  num- 
ber of  cabins  were  scattered  about  as  convenience  or  fancy  dictated. 
Mr,  Moore's  highest  expectations  in  raising  stock  were  realized. 
Assisted  by  Simpson,  he  soon  became  possessor  of  a  hundred  head 
of  horses,  and  a  large  number  of  horned  cattle,  which  found  pastur- 
age sufficient  for  both  summer  and  winter,  with  little  aid  or  care 
from  man.  His  dream  of  safety  was  broken.  The  wily  savage 
discovered  the  white  man's  track,  and  the  white  man's  cabin  west  of 
those  Alleghanies,  which  they  resolved  should  be  an  everlasting  barrier 
between  their  homes  in  Ohio  to  which  they  had  fled,  and  the  hated 
whites  who  held  the  corn-fields  and  hunting-grounds  of  their 
fathers  and  their  race,  between  those  great  mountains  and  the 
Atlantic  shores. 

"  To  revenge  this  encroachment,  the  savages  commenced  their 
depredations,  and  compelled  isolated  families,  summer  after  summer, 
to  betake  themselves  to  forts  and  stockades  for  their  mutual 
defence.  On  one  occasion  a  number  of  men  being  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  John  Poage,  one  of  them,  on  stepping  out  after  nightfall, 
observed  to  his  companions  that  a  good  look-out  ought  to  be  kept 
for  Indians  that  night,  for  he  heard  an  unusual  noise,  as  of  the  hoot- 
ing of  owls,  which  he  supposed  to  be  the  signal  of  Indians  approach- 
ing the  house  from  different  quarters.  About  midnight  the  house 
was  surrounded  by  savages  ;  but  finding  the  doors  secured  and  the 
inmates  on  the  watch,  the  Indians  retired  without  committing  any 
depredations.  One  of  the  party  in  the  house  seized  a  gun,  not  his 
own,  unaware  that  it  was  double  triggered,  pressed  the  muzzle 
through  the  cracks  of  the  cabin  .against  the  body  of  a  savage  who 
was  slily  examining  the  state  of  things  within,  and  in  his  'eagerness 
to  discharge  the  piece  broke  both  the  triggers,  and  the  savage 


MARY    MOORE.  123 

escaped.  All  was  stillness  both  within  and  without  the  house ; 
such  was  the  nature  of  savage  warfare.  Mr.  Poage  and  most  of  the 
families  now  retired  from  this  advanced  position  to  the  more  secure 
neighborhoods  in  Rockbridge,  Botetourt  and  Montgomery,  while 
Mr.  Moore  and  a  few  others  remained. 

"  Mr.  Moore  was  a  man  of  courage ;  he  loved  the  solitude  and 
sweetness  of  the  valley,  and  would  not  retreat  through  any  fear  of 
the  hostile  Indians.  Five  children  were  added  to  his  family  in  this 
valley,  making  the  number  nine.  Of  these  Mary,  the  fifth,  was 
born  in  the  year  1777,  and  passed  the  first  nine  years  of  her  life  in 
alternate  solitude  and  alarms.  On  the  7th  of  September,  1784, 
James,  then  fourteen  years  of  age,-  was  sent  to  Poage's  deserted 
settlement  to  procure  a  horse  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  the  mill 
about  twelve  miles  distant,  through  a  dreary  wilderness.  Tie  did 
not  return,  and  the  anxious  search  discovered  trails  of  savages.  In 
time  the  hope  he  had  hidden  in  the  woods  or  fled  to  some  distant 
habitation,  gave  way  to  the  sad  conviction  that  his  fate  for  life  or 
death  had  been  committed  to  the  hands  of  barbarians.  This  be- 
reavement grieved,  but  did  not  subdue  the  heart  of  the  father,  who 
resolutely,  almost  stubbornly,  maintained  his  position.  After  some 
time,  a  letter  was  received  from  Kentucky,  giving  him  information 
of  his  lost  son,  then  supposed  to  be  in  or  near  Detroit.  Before  any 
effective  steps  could  be  taken  for  his  recovery,  another  and  more 
mournful  scene  was  enacted  in  Apps'  Valley,  awfully  contrasting  with 
the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  surrounding  nature,  and  the  domestic 
peace  and  piety  of  Moore's  dwelling. 

"  The  morning  of  the  14th  July,  1786,  a  party  of  Indians  came 
up  Sandy  River,  crossed  over  to  the  head  of  Clinch,  passed  near 
where  Tazewell  Court-house  now  is,  murdered  a  Mr.  Davison  and 
wife,  and  burned  their  dwelling,  and  passed  on  hastily  to  Apps'Valley, 
before  any  alarm  could  be  given.  A  little  spur  puts  out  from  the 
mountain,  and  gradually  sloping  towards  the  creek,  about  three 
hundred  yards  before  it  sinks  into  the  low  grounds,  divides;  at  the 
extremity  of  one  division  stood  Moore's  house,  and  near  the  other 
the  trough  at  which  he  was  accustomed  to  salt  his  horses.  At  the 


124:  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

time  of  the  greatest  peril  all  seemed  most  secure.  It  was  harvest 
time ;  and  there  were  two  men  assisting  Mr.  Moore  in  his  harvest. 
The  guns  were  discharged  on  the  preceding  evening,  to  be  reloaded 
some  time  in  the  morning.  Simpson  lay  sick  in  the  loft ;  the  men 
had  repaired  early  to  the  wheat-field,  to  reap  till  breakfast  time ; 
Moore  was  engaged  in  salting  his  horses ;  his  wife  busied  in  her 
domestic  concerns,  and  two  of  the  children  at  the  spring.  Suddenly 
the  savage  yell  was  heard,  and  two  parties  rushed  from  their  hiding- 
places  on  the  ridge,  the  one  down  the  slope  to  the  house,  and  the 
other  towards  Mr.  Moore.  Two  children,  Rebecca  and  William, 
were  shot  dead  near  the  salt  block,  on  their  return  from  the  spring, 
and  the  third,  Alexander,  near  the  house.  Mary  rushed  in,  and  the 
door  was  shut  and  barred  against  the  approaching  savages  by  Mrs. 
Moore  and  Martha  Ivans,  a  member  of  the  family,  just  in  time  to 
prevent  their  entrance.  Mr.  Moore  finding  himself  intercepted  by 
the  Indians  at  the  house,  ran  on  through  the  small  lot  that  sur- 
rounded it,  and  on  climbing  the  fence,  paused  and  turned,  and  in  a 
moment  was  pierced  with  seven  bullets.  Springing  from  the  fence, 
he  ran  a  few  paces,  fell  and  expired.  The  two  men  in  the  harvest- 
field,  seeing  the  house  surrounded  by  a  large  company  of  savages, 
fled  and  escaped  unharmed.  Martha  Ivans  seized  two  of  the  guns, 
and  ran  upstairs  to  the  sick  man,  Simpson,  calling  on  him  to  shoot 
through  the  crevices ;  but  the  poor  man  had  already  received  his 
death-wound  from  a  bullet  aimed  from  without.  Two  stout  dogs 
defended  the  door  most  courageously,  till  the  fiercest  was  shot. 
Martha  Ivans  and  Mary  Moore  secreted  themselves  under  a  part  of 
the  floor,  taking  with  them  the  infant  Margaret ;  but  the  sobbings 
of  the  alarmed  child  forbade  concealment,  Should  Mary  place  the 
child  upon  the  floor,  and  conceal  herself  ?  or  share  its  fate  ?  She 
could  not  abandon  her  little  sister  even  in  that  perilous  moment, 
and  left  her  hiding-place  and  her  companion.  The  Indians  were 
now  cutting  at  the  door  and  threatening  fire.  Mrs.  Moore  perceiv- 
ing that  her  faithful  sentinels  were  silenced,  Simpson  expiring,  and 
her  husband  dead,  collected  her  four  children,  and  kneeling  down, 
committed  them  to  God  ;  then  rose,  and  unbarred  the  door. 


MARY   MOORE.  125 

u  After  all  resistance  had  ceased,  the  Indians,  satisfied  with  the 
blood  that  had  been  shed,  took  Mrs.  Moore  and  her  four  children, 
John,  Jane,  Mary,  and  Margaret,  prisoners  ;  and  having  plundered 
to  their  satisfaction,  set  fire  to  the  dwelling.  Martha  Ivans  crept 
from  the  approaching  flames,  and  again  concealed  herself  beneath  a 
log  that  lay  across  the  little  stream  near  the  dwelling.  While 
catching  a  few  of  the  horses,  one  of  the  Indians  crossed  the  log 
under  which  she  was  secreted,  and  sat  down  upon  the  end  of  it. 
The  girl  seeing  him  handle  the  lock  of  his  gun,  and  supposing  he 
had  discovered  and  was  about  to  fire  upon  her,  came  out,  to  the 
great  surprise  of  the  savage — for  he  had  not  seen  her,  and  to  his 
great  apparent  joy  delivered  herself  a  captive.  In  a  short  time  the 
Indians  were  on  their  march  with  their  captives  to  their  Shawnee 
towns  in  Ohio.  The  two  men  who  escaped,  hastened  to  the  near- 
est family,  a  distance  of  six  miles,  and  as  soon  as  possible  spread 
the  alarm,  among  the  settlements ;  but  before  the  armed  men  could 
reach  the  spot,  the  ruin  was  complete,  and  the  depredators  far  on 
their  way  to  Ohio. 

"  After  the  horrible  events  of  the  morning,  perhaps  the  mother 
wept  not  when  the  captors,  dissatisfied  with  the  delicate  appearance 
and  slow  travelling  of  her  weak-minded  and  feeble-bodied  son 
John,  despatched  him  at  a  blow,  and  hid  him  from  the  sight  of 
pursuers.  The  hours  of  night  passed  slowly  and  sorrowfully  as  the 
four  captives,  all  females,  lay  upon  the  ground,  each  tied  to  a  war- 
rior, who  slept  tomahawk  in  hand,  to  prevent  a  re-capture,  should 
they  be  overtaken  by  the  pursuing  whites.  On  the  third  day  a  new 
cup  of  sorrow  was  put  into  the  mother's  hand.  The  infant  Marga- 
ret, whom  Mary  could  not  part  with,  had  been  spared  to  the 
mother ;  the  Indians  even  assisting  .in  carrying  it.  On  the  third 
day  it  became  very  fretful  from  a  wound  it  had  received  on  its  cheek  ; 
irritated  by  its  crying,  a  savage  seized  it,  and  dashing  its  head 
against  a  tree,  tossed  it  into  the  bushes.  The  company  moved  on 
in  silence ;  the  sisters  dared  not,  the  mother  would  not,  lament  the 
fate  of  the  helpless  loved  one. 

"  After  some  twenty  days  of  wearisome  travel  down  the  Sandy 


120  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

and  Ohio  Rivers,  they  came  to  the  Scioto  ;  here  the  Indians  showed 
Mrs.  Moore  some  hieroglyphics  on  the  trees  representing  three 
Indians  and  a  captiye  white  boy  ;  this  boy,  they  told  her,  was  her 
son  whom  they  had  captured  in  their  expedition  two  years  before, 
who  had  been  here  with  them,  and  was  still  a  captive.  The 
prisoners  were  then  taken  to  their  towns,  near  where  Chilicothe  now 
stands,  and  were  kindly  received.  After  a  few  days  a  council  was 
called,  and  an  aged  Indian  made  a  long  speech  dissuading  from  war ; 
the  warriors  shook  their  heads  and  retired.  This  old  man  took 
Mary  Moore  to  his  wigwam,  treated  her  with  great  kindness,  and 
appeared  to  commiserate  her  condition.  In  a  short  time  a  party  of 
Cherokees,  who  had  made  an  unsuccessful  expedition  in  the  western 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  on  their  return  home  passed  by  the  Shawnee 
towns,  and  stopped  where  Mrs.  Moore  and  her  daughter  Jane  were. 
Irritated  at  their  ill  success,  and  the  loss  of  some  of  their  warriors, 
the  sight  of  these  prisoners  excited  an  irresistible  thirst  for  revenge. 
While  the  Shavvnees  were  revelling  with  liquor,  the  Cherokees 
seized  the  mother  and  daughter,  and  condemned  them  to  the  tor- 
ture by  fire  and  death  at  the  stake.  Their  sufferings  were  pro- 
tracted through  three  days  of  agony.  The  uncomplaining  mother 
comforted  her  poor  dying  child  with  gospel  truth  and  exhortation, 
and  died  with  a  meekness  that  astounded  the  savages.  The 
Shawnees  never  approved  of  this  gratuitous  act  of  cruelty,  and 
always  expressed  unwillingness  to  converse  about  it. 

"  When  Mrs.  Moore  and  her  children,  as  captives,  left  their  habi- 
tation in  App's  Valley,  Mary  took  two  New  Testaments  which  she 
carried  through  all  her  wearisome  journey  to  the  Scioto ;  one  of 
them  was  taken  from  her  by  the  young  savages,  and  the  other  was 
her  companion  through  the  days  of  her  bondage.  The  old  Indian 
who  showed  her  kindness  on  arriving  at  the  towns,  would  often  call 
her  to  his  side  and  make  her  read  to  him,  that  he  might  hear  l  the 
book  speak  ;'  and  when  any  of  the  young  Indians  attempted  to 
hide  it  from  her,  as  they  often  did,  he  interposed  with  sternness  and 
compelled  them  to  restore  it. 

u  The  two  girls  remained  with  the  Shawnees  till  the  fall  of  the 


MARY    MOORE.  127 

year  1788,  being  kept  as  property  of  value  without  any  definite 
object.  Contentions  sometimes  arose  among  the  Indians  about  the 
right  of  ownership ;  and  in  times  of  intoxication,  death  was  threatened 
as  the  only  means  of  ending  the  quarrel.  Whenever  these  threats 
were  made,  some  of  the  sober  Indians  gave  the  girls  the  alarm  in 
time  for  their  secreting  themselves.  While  free  from  the  influence 
of  drink,  the  Indians  expressed  great  fondness  for  the  girls,  particu- 
larly the  little  black-eyed,  golden-haired  Mary. 

"  The  Shawnees  continuing  to  be  very  troublesome  to  the  fron- 
tiers, in  the  fall  of  1788  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  to  destroy  their 
towns  on  the  Scioto.  The  Indians  were  informed  by  the  traders  of 
the  design  and  departure  of  the  expedition,  and  watched  its  pro- 
gress. On  its  near  approach  they  deserted  their  towns,  secreting 
their  little  property,  and  carrying  their  wives  and  children  and  aged 
ones  beyond  the  reach  of  the  enemy.  Mary  Moore  revolved  in  her 
mind  the  probable  chances  of  concealing  herself  in  the  forests  until 
the  arrival  of  the  forces,  and  thus  obtaining  her  liberty ;  and  was 
deterred  from  the  attempt  by  the  reflection  that  the  season  was  late, 
and  possibly  the  forces  might  not  arrive  before  winter.  Late  in 
November  the  American  forces  reached  the  Scioto,  burned  the 
Shawnee  towns,  destroyed  their  winter  provisions  as  far  as  they 
could  be  found,  and  immediately  returned  home.  After  the  depar- 
ture of  the  forces  the  Indians  returned  to  their  ruined  towns,  and 
winter  setting  upon  them,  deprived  of  shelter,  their  extreme  suffer- 
ings compelled  them  to  seek  for  aid  in  Canada.  On  the  journey 
to  Detroit  they  endured  the  extremes  of  hunger  and  cold.  Martha 
Ivans  and  Mary  Moore  with  few  garments,  traversed  the  forests 
with  deer-skin  moccasins,  the  only  covering  for  their  feet  in  the  deep 
snows.  Not  unfrequently  they  awoke  in  the  morning  covered  with 
the  snow  that  had  fallen  during  the  night ;  once  the  depth  of  their 
snowy  covering  was  twelve  or  fourteen  inches,  their  only  bed  or 
protection,  besides  the  bushes  heaped  together,  being  their  single 
blanket.  On  reaching  Detroit  the  Indians  gave  themselves  to  riot- 
ous drinking,  and  to  indulge  this  appetite  sold  their  young  captives. 
Mary  was  purchased  for  half  n  gallon  of  rum,  by  a  person  named 


128  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

Stogwell,  who  lived  at  Frenchtown ;  Martha  by  a  man  in  the  "neigh- 
borhood of  Detroit.  Being  soon  after  released  she  took  up  her  resi- 
dence with  a  wealthy  and  worthy  English  family  by  the  name  of 
Donaldson,  and  received  wages  for  her  services.  The  purchaser  of 
Mary  neither  liberated  her,  nor  expressed  any  kindness  for  her,  but 
employed  her  as  a  servant,  with  poor  clothing  and  scanty  fare.  The 
circumstances  of  her  redemption  and  return  to  her  friends  in  Vir- 
ginia, are  related  by  her  brother  James  Moore,  in  the  narrative  of 
his  own  captivity  and  redemption."  This  presents  so  faithful  a 
picture  of  Indian  captivity,  that  we  shall  extract  part  of  it  before 
resuming  the  history  of  Mary. 

"  My  father  sent  me  to  a  waste  plantation  about  two  miles  and  a 
quarter  up  the  valley,  to  get  a  horse  to  go  to  mill.  1  came  within  a 
few  paces  of  the  field,  when  suddenly  the  Indians  sprang  out  from 
behind  a  large  log ;  and  being  before  alarmed,  I  screamed  with  all 
my  might.  The  Indian  that  took  me,  laid  his  hand  on  the  top  of 
my  head  and  bade  me  hush.  There  were  only  three  Indians  in  the 
company.  Their  leader,  Black  Wolf,  a  middle-aged  man,  of  the 
most  stern  countenance  I  ever  beheld,  about  six  feet  high,  having  a 
long  black  beard,  was  the  one  who  caught  hold  of  me. 

"In  a  few  moments  we  started  on  our  journey.  The  Indians 
went  up  into  the  thicket  where  their  kettle  and  blankets  were  hid, 
covered  up  in  the  leaves,  and  took  them.  We  travelled  down  a 
creek  called  Tugg,  the  north  fork  of  Sandy,  that  afternoon  about 
eight  miles.  The  walking  was  very  laborious  on  account  of  the 
high  weeds,  green  briers,  logs,  and  the  mountainous  character  of  the 
country.  At  night  we  lay  down  in  a  laurel  thicket  without  fire  or. 
anything  to  eat.  The  night  was  rainy.  I  lay  beside  Black  Wolf, 
with  a  leading  halter  round  my  neck  tied  very  tight,  and  the  other 
end  wrapped  round  his  hands,  so  as  to  make  it  very  secure,  and  so 
that  I  could  not  get  away  without  waking  him.  He  had  also 
searched  me  very  carefully  to  see  that  I  had  no  knife.  During  the 
afternoon  the  two  young  Indians  walked  before ;  I  next  to  them, 
and  old  Wolf  followed ;  and  if  any  sign  was  made  he  would  remove 
it  with  his  tomahawk,  so  that  there  might  be  no  marks  or  traces  of 


MAKY   MOORE.  129 

the  way  we  had  gone.  I  frequently  broke  bushes,  which  he  dis- 
covered and  shook  his  tomahawk  over  my  head,  giving  me  to  under- 
stand that  if  I  did  not  desist  he  would  strike  me  with  it.  I  then 
would  scratch  the  ground  with  my  feet ;  this  he  also  discovered  and 
made  me  desist ;  and  showed  me  how  to  set  my  feet  flat  so  as  not  to 
make  any  special  marks.  It  then  became  necessary  for  me  to  cease 
any  efforts  to  make  a  trail  for  others  to  follow.  About  sun-down 
Old  Wolf  gave  a  tremendous  war  whoop,  and  another  the  next  morn- 
ing at  sunrise.  This  was  repeated  every  evening  at  sun-down,  and 
every  morning  at  sunrise,  during  our  whole  journey.  It  was  long, 
loud,  and  shrill,  signifying  that  he  had  one  prisoner.  The  custom 
is  to  repeat  it  as  frequently  as  the  number  of  prisoners.  This  whoop 
is  different  from  the* one  they  make  when  they  have  scalps. 

"  In  the  evening  of  September  9th,  we  encamped  for  the  night 
under  a  projecting  cliff,  and  here  for  the  first  time  kindled  a  fire. 
Old  Wolf  took  the  precaution  of  cutting  a  number  of  bushes  and 
bending  them  outward  from  our  encampment  so  as  to  embarrass 
any  one  approaching  us,  if  we  had  been  pursued.  The  next  day 
they  killed  a  lean  bear,  but  so  very  lean  they  would  not  eat  of  it ; 
so  we  were  still  without  food.  Several  times  during  the.  days  of  our 
fasting,  the  Indians  went  to  the  north  side  of  a  poplar,  and  cut  off 
some  of  the  bark  near  the  root,  pounded  it,  and  put  it  in  the  kettle 
and  put  water  on  it ;  this  we  drank  occasionally,  which  seemed  to 
have  a  salutary  effect  in  relieving  the  sufferings  of  hunger. 

"  We  killed  buffalo  and  deer  as  we  stood  in  need,  till  we  arrived 
(Sept.  29th)  at  the  towns  over  the  Ohio,  on  the  head  waters  of  Mud 
River,  which  took  us  about  twenty-two  days'  travelling.  I  travelled 
the  whole  route  barefooted,  and  frequently  walked  over  large  rattle- 
snakes, but  was  not  suffered  to  kill  or  interrupt  them,  the  Indians 
considering  them  their  friends. 

"  We  crossed  the  Ohio,  between  the  mouths  of  Guyandotte  and 
Big  Sandy,  on  a  raft  made  of  dry  logs  tied  together  with  grape  vines. 
On  the  banks  of  the  Scioto  we  lay  by  one  day,  and  the  Indians 
made  pictures  on  the  trees  of  three  Indians  and  of  me  ;  intended  as 
hieroglyphics  to  represent  themselves  and  me  as  their  prisoner. 
6* 


130  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

These  they  afterwards  showed  to  my  sister.     Near  this,  Old  Wolf 
went  off  and  procured  some  bullets  which  -he  had  secreted. 

44  When  we  were  within  a  short  distance  of  the  towns,  the  Indians 
blacked  themselves,  but  not  me.  I  was  taken  to  the  residence  of 
Wolf's  half-sister,-  to  whom  he  had  sold  me  for  an  old  grey  horse. 
Shortly  after  I  was  sold,  my  mistress  left  me  in  her  wigwam  for 
several  days  entirely  alone,  leaving  a  kettle  of  hominy  for  me  to  eat. 
In  this  solitary  situation  I  first  began  earnestly  to  pray  and  call  upon 
God  for  mercy  and  deliverance,  and  found  great  relief  in  prayer.  I 
now  found  the  benefit  of  the  religious  instruction  and  examples  I 
had  enjoyed."  *  * 

44  In  about  two  weeks  after  I  had  been  sold,  the  woman  who 
bought  me  sent  me  out  in  company  with  her  half-brother  and  others, 
on  a  winter's  hunting  excursion.  We  were  very  unsuccessful.  My 
sufferings  from  hunger  and  cold  were  very  great.  I  had  scarcely 
any  clothing;  the  snow  was  knee  deep  ;  my  blanket  was  too  short 
to  cover  me.  Often  after  having  lain  down  and  drawn  up  my  feet 
to  get  them  underneath  my  blanket,  I  was  so  benumbed  that  I  could 
not,  without  considerable  exertion,  get  my  legs  stretched  out  again. 
Early  in  the  morning  the  old  Indian  would  build  a  large  fire,  and 
send  me  and  all  the  young  Indians  and  make  us  plunge  all  over  in 
cold  water,  which  I  think  was  a  very  great  benefit  to  me,  and  pre- 
vented me  from  catching  cold,  as  is  usual  under  circumstances  of  so 
much  exposure." 

The  husband  of  James's  mistress  one  day  came  home  from  a 
meeting  of  the  Powwow  Society,  and  informed  her  that  an  apparition 
sent  by  the  Great  Spirit,  had  reproved  the  Indians  for  their  sins,  their 
idleness  and  want  of  brotherly  kindness,  and  had  predicted  the  de- 
struction of  their  towns.  These  predictions  were  literally  fulfilled  in 
the  course  of  three  years,  in  the  invasion  of  Logan  from  Kentucky. 
In  the  mean  time  a  French  trader  from  Detroit,  named  Baptiste 
Ariome,  took  a  fancy  to  young  Moore  on  account  of  his  resemblance 
to  one  of  his  sons,  and  bought  him  for  fifty  dollars'  worth  of  brooches, 
crapes,  and  other  commodities.  James  also  met  with  a  trader  from 
Kentucky,  whom  he  requested  to  write  a  letter  to  his  father,  and 


MARY   MOORE.  131 

give  it  to  a  young  man  he  had  rescued  from  the  Indians,  to  convey 
to  Mr.  Moore.  At  the  house  of  Ariome  James  was  treated  like  a 
son,  and  worked  on  the  farm,  occasionally  assisting  in  trading  expe- 
ditions. On  one  of  these  he  heard  of  the  destruction  of  his  father's 
family,  from  a  Shawanee  Indian  who  was  one  of  the  party  of  assail- 
ants. The  information  was  given  the  latter  part  of  the  same  sum- 
mer in  which  the  massacre  was  perpetrated.  In  the  winter  follow- 
ing, James  heard  that  his  sister  Mary  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Stog- 
well,  and  that  she  was  ill-treated  in  his  family.  In  the  spring  Stog- 
well  moved  into  the  neighborhood  where  he  lived ;  young  Moore 
immediately  went  to  see  his  sister,  and  found  her  in  an  abject  con- 
dition, clothed  in  a  few  dirty  rags.  Being  advised  to  apply  to  the 
commanding  officer  at  Detroit,  he  went  with  Simon  Girty  to  Col. 
McKee,  superintendent  for  the  Indians,  who  had  Stogwell  brought 
to  trial  to  answer  the  complaint  against  him  ;  and  though  the  poor 
girl  was  not  taken  from  her  inhuman  master,  it  was  decided  that 
when  an  opportunity  offered  for  her  return  home,  she  should  be  re- 
leased without  remuneration.  This  was  brought  about  through  the 
efforts  of  Thomas  Ivans,  the  brother  of  Martha,  who  had  determined 
to  seek  his  lost  sister,  and  the  members  of  Mr.  Moore's  family  who 
might  be  living.  Clothing  himself  in  skins,  and  securing  some 
money  about  his  person,  with  rifle  in  hand,  he  proceeded  to  the 
tribes  in  whose  possession  the  captives  had  been,  and  traced  their 
wanderings  to  their  several  places  of  abode.  His  sister  was  living 
at  Mr.  Donaldson's ;  Mary  Moore  was  delivered  up  by  Mr.  Stogwell, 
and  James  by  Mr.  Ariome.  "  All  being  at  liberty,"  says  Moore,  "  we 
immediately  prepared  to  go  to  our  distant  friends,  and  as  well  as  I 
can  remember,  set  out  some  time  in  October,  1789  ;  it  being  about 
five  years  from  the  time  I  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians, 
and  a  little  more  than  three  from  the  captivity  of  my  sister.  A 
trading-boat  coming  down  the  lakes,  we  obtained  a  passage  in  it  for 
myself  and  sister  Polly  to  the  Moravian  towns,  a  distance  of  about 
two  hundred  miles,  which  was  on  our  way  to  Pittsburgh.  Therer 
according  to  appointment,  the  day  after  our  arrival,  Thomas  Ivans 
and  his  sister  Martha  met  us.  We  then  prepared  immediately  for 


z.32  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE  WEST. 

our  journey  to  Pittsburgh.  Here  Mr.  Ivans  got  his  shoulder  dis- 
located, in  consequence  of  which  we  stayed  a  part  of  the  winter  in 
the  vicinity,  with  an  uncle  and  aunt  of  his,  until  he  became  able  to 
travel.  Having  expended  all  his  money  with  the  doctor  and  in  tra- 
velling, he  left  his  sister  Martha,  and  proceeded  with  Polly  and  my- 
self to  the  house  of  an  uncle  about  ten  miles  south-west  of  Staunton, 
and  having  received  from  an  uncle,  the  administrator  of  his  father's 
estate,  compensation  for  his  services,  he  afterwards  returned  and 
brought  his  sister  Martha. 

"  A  day  or  two  after  we  set  out,  having  called  at  a  public  house 
for  breakfast,  while  it  was  preparing,  my  sister  took  out  her  Testa- 
ment and  was  engaged  in  reading.  Being  called  to  breakfast,  she 
laid  down  her  Testament,  and  when 'we  resumed  our  journey  she 
forgot  it.  After  we  had  proceeded  several  miles  she  thought  of  her 
Testament,  and  strongly  insisted  on  turning  back  ;  but  such  were 
the  dangers  of  the  way,  and  such  the  necessity  of  speeding  our  jour- 
ney, that  we  could  not." 

Martha  Ivans  married  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hummer,  removed 
to  Indiana,  and  reared  a  large  family,  so  that  she  is  included  in  the 
list  of  pioneer  mothers.  Two  of  her  sons  became  Presbyterian  cler- 
gymen. Shortly  after  her  return  to  Rockbridge,  Mary  Moore  went 
to  live  with  her  uncle,  Joseph  Walker,  about  six  miles  south  of 
Lexington,  and  in  mature  years  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Brown,  pastor  of  New  Providence.  She  became  the  mother  of 
eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  survived  her;  and  through  life  re- 
tained a  strong  attachment  for  the  wild  people  of  the  forest,  which 
no  memory  of  wrong  could  obliterate.  The  self-reliance,  patience, 
and  self-denial  she  acquired,  in  part,  in  her  captivity,  were  eminent 
through  life.  She  was  blessed  with  children  as  dutiful  and  pious 
as  she  had  proved  in  her  childhood,  and  saw,  in  her  success  in 
training  her  household,  the  influence  of  her  own  force  of  character 
developed  by  such  strange  circumstances,  and  the  power  of  a  Chris- 
tian example. 


JOUKNEY    WESTWARD.  133 

Some  idea  of  the  difficulties  of  travel  in  those  days  may  be  given 
by  the  following  extract  from  a  description  of  a  journey  westward 
in  1784.*  "Pack-horses  were  the  only  means  of  transportation 
then,  and  for  years  after.  We  were  provided  with  three  horses,  on 
one  of  which  my  mother  rode  carrying  her  infant  with  all  the  table 
furniture  and  cooking  utensils.  On  another  were  packed  the  stores 
of  provisions,  the  plough  irons,  and  other  agricultural  tools.  The 
third  horse  was  rigged  out  with  a"  pack  saddle  and  two  large  creels, 
made  of  hickory  withs  in  the  fashion  of  a  crate,  one  over  each  side, 
in  which  were  stowed  the  beds  and  bedding,  and  the  wearing 
apparel  of  the  family.  In  the  centre  of  these  creels  there  was  an 
aperture  prepared  for  myself  and  little  sister,  and  the  top  was  well 
secured  by  lacing  to  keep  us  in  our  places,  so  that  only  our  heads 
appeared  above.  Each  family  was  supplied  with  one  or  more  cows ; 
their  milk  furnished  the  morning  and  evening  meal  for  the  chil- 
dren, and  the  surplus  was  carried  in  canteens  for  use  during  the 
day. 

"  When  the  caravan  reached  the  mountains,  the  road  was  found 
to  be  hardly  passable  for  loaded  horses.  In  many  places  the  path 
lay  along  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  where,  if  the  horse  had  stumbled 
or  lost  his  balance,  he  would  have  been  precipitated  several  hundred 
feet  below.  The  path  was  crossed  by  many  streams  raised  by  the 
melting  snow  and  spring  rains,  and  running  with  rapid  current  in 
deep  ravines ;  most  of  these  had  to  be  forded,  and  for  many  succes- 
sive days,  hair-breadth  escapes  were  continually  occurring ;  some- 
times horses  falling,  at  others  carried  away  by  the  current,  and  the 
women  and  children  with  difficulty  saved  from  drowning.  Some- 
times in  ascending  steep  acclivities,  the  lashing  of  the  creels  would 
give  way,  both  creels  and  children  tumble  to  the  ground  arid  roll 
clown  the  steep,  unless  arrested  by  some  traveller  of  the  company. 
The  men  who  had  been  inured  to  the  hardships  of  war,  could 
endure  the  fatigues  of  the  journey  ;  it  was  the  mothers  who  suffered  ; 
they  could  not,  after  the  toils  of  the  day,  enjoy  the  rest  so  much 
needed  at  night.  The  wants  of  their  suffering  children  must  be 
*  American  Pioneer,  vol.  II. 


134  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

Attended  to.  After  preparing  their  simple  meal,  they  lay  down 
with  scanty  covering  in  a  miserable  cabin,  or,  as  it  sometimes  hap- 
pened, in  the  open  air,  and  often  unrefreshed.  were  obliged  to 
rise  early  to  encounter  the  fatigues  and  dangers  of  another  day." 

"The  division  lines  between  those  whose  lands  adjoined,  were 
generally  made  in  an  amicable  manner,  before  any  survey  of  them 
was  made  by  the  parties  concerned.  In  doing  this,  they  were  guided 
mainly  by  the  tops  of  ridges  and  water  courses,  but  particularly 
the  former.  Hence  the  greater  number  of  farms  in  the  western 
parts  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  an 
amphitheatre ;  the  tops  of  the  surrounding  hills  being  the  boundaries 
of  the  tract  to  which  the  family  mansion  belongs." 

Besides  the  exposure  of  the  emigrants  to  Indian  depredations 
and  massacres,  "  they  had  other  trials  to  endure  which  at  the  pre- 
sent day  cannot  be  appreciated.  One  of  the  most  vexatious  was  the 
running  away  of  their  horses.  As  soon  as  the  fly  season  commenced 
the  horses  seemed  resolved  on  leaving  the  country  and  crossing  the 
mountains.  They  swam  the  Monongahela,  and  often  proceeded  a 
hundred-  and  fifty  miles  before  they  were  taken  up.  During  the 
husband's  absence  in  pursuit  of  them,  the  wife  was  left  alone  with 
her  children  in  their  unfinished  cabin,  surrounded  by  forests,  in  which 
the  howl  of  wolves  was  heard  from  every  hill.  If  want  of  provi- 
sions, or  other  causes,'  made  a  visit  to  a  neighbor's  necessary,  she 
must  either  take  her  children  with  her  through  the  woods,  or  leave 
them  unprotected,  under  the  most  fearful  apprehension  that  some 
mischief  might  befal  them  before  her  return.  As  bread  and  meat 
were  scarce,  milk  was  the  principal  dependence  for  the  support  of 
the  family.  One  cow  of  each  family  was  provided  with  a  bell, 
which  could  be  heard  from'  half  a  mile  to  a  mile.  The  matron  on 
rising  in  the  morning  listened  for  her  cow-bell,  which  she  knew  well 
enough  to  detect,  even  amidst  a  clamor  of  others.  If  her  children 
were  small,  she  tied  them  in  bed  to  prevent  their  wandering,  and 
guard  them  from  danger  of  fire  and  snakes ;  and  guided  by  the 
tinkling  of  the  bell,  made  her  way  through  the  tall  weeds  and 
across  the  ravines  until  she  found  the  objects  of  her  search.  Happy 


ANECDOTE.  135 

on  her  return  to  find  her  children  unharmed,  and  regardless  of  a 
thorough  wetting  from  the  dew,  she  hastened  to  prepare  their 
breakfast  of  milk  boiled  with  a  little  meal  or  hominy  ;  or  in  the 
protracted  absence  of  her  husband,  it  was  often  reduced  to  milk 
alone.  Occasionally  venison  and  turkeys  were  obtained  from 
hunters." 

An  anecdote  is  related  in  the  "  American  Pioneer,"  of  Gov. 
McArthur,  on  his  first  visit  to  the  West,  which  throws  light  on  the 
situation  of  the  early  settlers.  He  stopped  some  time  at  Baker's 
Station,  about  twenty  miles  below  Wheeling.  There  was  war  with 
the  Indians,  and  the  settlers  about  Fish  Creek  were  occupying  the 
station  for  security  ;  so  long,  however,  had  the  enemy  been  absent 
from  that  section  of  country,  that  the  inmates  went  and  came  when 
they  pleased.  A  young  lady  of  great  beauty,  who  lived  at  the 
place,  had  acquired  proficiency  in  the  art  of  shooting  with  the  rifle. 
"  I  think  her  name  was  Scott,  but  it  may  have  been  Baker.  Early 
one  morning  she  went  to  the  run,  some  fifty  or  sixty  yards  above 
the  post,  to  wash  linen,  taking  her  gun  along,  and  young  McArthur 
accompanied  her  to  stand  guard  while  she  was  employed  at  the 
wash  tub.  Before  long  a  small  dog  that  was  with  them  commenced 
barking,  and  gave  such  manifestations  of  alarm  that  the  young  lady 
desired  her  companion  to  make  a  hasty  reconnoissance  of  the  adja- 
cent grounds.  The  motions  of  the  dog  had  awakened  fear  that 
Indians  might  be  lurking  close  by,  but  McArthur  discovered 
nothing  to  confirm  the  suspicion.  The  washing  was  resumed  and 
in  due  course  completed ;  after  which  they  both  returned  to  the 
sfation.  Just  as  they  were  about  to  enter  the  gate,  a  tali  athletic 
looking  Indian  sprang  from  behind  a  tree  not  more  than  thirty 
paces  beyond  the  spot  where  they  had  been  washing  and  darted  off 
rapidly  into  the  woods.  Pursuit  was  instantly  made,  but  he  was 
not  overtaken.  He  must  have  posted  himself  behind  the  tree  din- 
ing the  previous  night,  with  the  intention  of  shooting  the  first  per- 
son that  ventured  out  of  the  works  in  the  morning.  The  appear- 
ance of  two  disconcerted  his  plan.  Me  Arthur's  gallantry  on  this 
occasion  was  the  means  of, saving  the  young  lady's  life." 


136  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST. 

.  De  Hass  describes  a  station  as  a  parallelogram  of  cabins  united 
by  palisades,  so  as  to  present  a  continued  wall  on  the  outer  sides, 
the  cabin  doors  opening  into  a  common  square  on  the  inner  side. 
A  fort  was  generally  a  stockade  enclosure,  embracing  cabins,  etc.,  for 
the  accommodation  of  several  families.  Doddridge  says,  "  a  range 
of  cabins  commonly  formed  at  least  one  side,  separated  by  divisions 
or  partitions  of  logs.  The  walls  on  the  outside  were  ten  or  twelve  - 
feet  high,  with  a  roof  sloping  inward.  Some  of  the  cabins  had 
puncheon  floors,  but  the  greater  part  were  earthen. 

"  The  blockhouses  were  built  at  the  angles  of  the  fort,  and  pro- 
jected about  two  feet  beyond  the  outer  walls  of  the  cabins  and 
stockades.  Their  upper  stories  were  about  eighteen  inches  or  two 
feet  every  way  larger  than  the  under  one,  leaving  an  opening  at  the 
commencement  of  the  second  story,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
making  a  lodgment  under  their  walls.  In  some  forts,  instead  of 
blockhouses,  the  angles  were  furnished  with  bastions.  A  large  fold- 
ing gate,  made  of  thick  slabs,  nearest  the  spring,  closed  the  fort. 
The  stockades,  bastions,  cabins,  and  blockhouse  walls  were  furnished 
with  portholes  at  proper  heights  and  distances.  The  whole  of  the 
outside  was  made  completely  bullet  proof.  The  families  belonging  to 
these  forts  were  so  attached  to  their  own  cabins  on  their  farms,  that 
they  seldom  moved  into  the  fort  in  the  spring  until  compelled  by  some 
alarm  ;  that  is,  when  it  was  announced  by  some  murder  that  Indians 
were  in  the  settlement." 

Butler  describes  the  dwellings  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  West 
as  composed  of  the  trunks  of  trees,  bared  of  their  branches,  notched 
at  the  ends  and  fitted  upon  one  another  in  a  quadrangular  shape,  tp 
the  desired  height.  Openings  through  the  logs  left  room  for  doors 
and  shutters.  A  capacious  opening,  nearly  the  whole  width  of  the 
cabin,  made  the  fire-place.  By  this  ample  width  economy  of  labor 
in  cutting  fire-wood,  as  well  as  comfort  in  houses,  was  consulted. 

"  The  furniture  of  the  table,  for  several  years  after  the  settlement 
of  the  country,  consisted  of  a  few  pewter  dishes,  plates  and  spoons ; 
but  mostly  of  wooden  bowls,  trenchers  and  noggins.  If  these  last 
were  scarce,  gourds  and  hard-shelled  squashes  made  up  the  de- 


137 

ficiency.  The  iron  pots,  knives  and  forks  were  brought  from  the 
East,  with  the  salt  and  iron,  on  pack-horses.  These  articles  of  fur- 
niture corresponded  very  well  with  the  articles  of  diet.  '  Hog  and 
hominy'  was  a  dish  of  proverbial  celebrity.  Johnny-cake  or  pone 
was  at  the  outset  of  the  settlements  the  only  form  of  bread  in  use 
for  breakfast  and  dinner  ;  at  supper,  milk  and  mush  was  the  standard 
dish.  When  milk  was  scarce,  hominy  supplied  its  place,  and  mush 
was  frequently  eaten  with  sweetened  water,  molasses,  bear's  oil,  or 
the  gravy  of  fried  meat. 

"  In  our  display  of  furniture,  delf,  china  and  silver  were  Unknown. 
The  introduction  of  delf  ware  was  considered  by  many  of  the  back- 
woods people  as  a  wasteful  innovation.  It  was  too  easily  broken, 
and  the  plates  dulle'd  their  scalping  and  clasp  knives.  Tea  and 
coffee,  in  the  phrase  of  the  day,  *  did  not  stick  by  the  ribs.'  The 
idea  then  prevalent  was,  that  they  were  only  designed  for  people  of 
quality,  who  did  not  labor,  or  for  the  rich.  A  genuine  backwoods- 
man would  have  thought  himself  disgraced  by  showing  a  fondness 
for  such  '  slops.' 

"  On  the  frontier  and  particularly  among  hunters  in  the  habit  of 
going  on  campaigns,  the  dress  of  the  men  was  partly  Indian.  The 
hunting-shirt  universally  worn  was  a  kind  of  loose  frock,  reaching 
half  way  down  the  thighs,  with  large  sleeves,  open  before,  and  so 
wide  as  to  lap  over  a  foot  or  more  when  belted.  The  cape  was 
large,  and  sometimes  fringed  with  a  ravelled  piece  of  cloth,  of  differ- 
ent color  from  the  hunting-shirt.  The  bosom  of  this  dress  served  as 
a  wallet  to  hold  bread,  cakes,  jerk,  tow  for  wiping  the  barrel  of  the 
rifle,  or  any  other  necessary  for  the  hunter  or  warrior.  The  belt, 
always  tied  behind,  answered  several  purposes  ;  in  cold  weather  the 
mittens,  and  sometimes  the  bullet-bag,  occupied  its  front  part ;  on 
the  right  side  was  suspended  the  tomahawk,  on  the  left  the  scalping 
knife  in  its  leathern  sheath.  The  hunting-shirt  was  generally  made 
of  linsey,  sometimes  of  coarse  linen,  and  a  few  of  dressed  deer-skin  ; 
these  last  very  cold  and  uncomfortable  in  wet  weather.  The  shirt 
and  jacket  were  of  the  common  fashion.  A  pair  of  drawers,  or 
breeches  and  ieggins,  jvere  the  dress  of  the  thighs  and  legs ;  a  pair 


138  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

of  moccasins  answered  for  the  feet  much  better  than  shoes.  These 
were  made  of  dressed  deer-skin,  and  were  mostly  of  a  single  piece, 
with  a  seam  along  the  top  of  the  foot,  and  another  from  the  bottom 
of  the  heel,  as  high  or  a  little  higher  than  the  ancle  joint.  Flaps 
were  left  on  each  side,  to  reach  some  distance  up  the  legs.  These 
were  nicely  adapted  to  the  ancles  and  lower  part  of  the  leg  by 
thongs  of  deerskin,  so  that  no  dust,  gravel,  or  snow  could  get  within 
the  moccasin.  In  cold  weather  this  was  well  stuffed  with  deer's  bail- 
or dried  leaves,  to  keep  the  feet  comfortably  warm  ;  but  in  wet 
weather  it  was  usually  said  that  wearing  moccasins  was  t  a  decent 
way  of  going  barefoot ; '  and  such  was  the  fact,  owing  to  the  spongy 
texture  of  the  leather  of  which  they  were  made.  Owing  to  this  de- 
fective covering  of  the  feet,  many  of  our  hunters  and  warriors  were 
afflicted  with  rheumatism  in  their  limbs.  Of  this  disease  they  were 
all  apprehensive  in  cold  or  wet  weather,  and  therefore  always  slept 
with  their  feet  to  the  fire,  to  prevent  or  cure  it  as  well  as  they  could. 
This  practice  unquestionably  had  a  very  salutary  effect,  and  pre- 
vented many  of  them  from  becoming  confirmed  cripples  in  early 
life. 

"  In  the  latter  years  of  the  Indian  war,  our  young  men  became 
more  enamored  .  of  the  Indian  dress.  The  drawers  were  laid  aside, 
and  the  leggins  made  longer,  so  as  to  reach  the  upper  part  of  the 
thigh.  The  Indian  breech  cloth  was  adopted.  This  was  a  piece  of 
linen  or  cloth,  nearly  a  yard  long,  and  eight  or  nine  inches  broad, 
passing  under  the  belt,  before  and  behind,  leaving  the  ends  for  flaps 
hanging  before  and  behind  over  the  belt,  sometimes  ornamented 
with  coarse  embroidery.  To  the  same  belt  which  secured  the  breech 
cloth,  strings,  supporting  the  long  leggins,  were  attached.  When  this 
belt,  as  was  often  the  case,  passed  over  the  hunting-shirt,  the  upper 
part  of  the  thighs  and  part  of  the  hips  were  naked.  The  young 
warrior,  instead  of  being  abashed  by  this,  was  proud  of  his  Indian 
dress.  In  some  few  instances  I  have  seen  them  go  into  places  of 
public  worship  in  this  dress."  De  Hass  adds,  that  old  hunters  have 
said  it  was  the  most  comfortable,  convenient,  and  desirable  that  could 


PIONEER   WEDDING.  139 

have  been  invented  t*v  the  times  in  which  it  was  used.  Linsey  coats 
and  gowns  were  the  universal  dress  of  the  women  in  early  times. 

A  description  of  a  wearing  among  the  pioneers  may  serve  to 
illustrate  their  manners.  The  following  is  taken  from  Doddridge's 
Notes : 

"  In  the  first  years  of  the  settlement,  a  wedding  engaged  the  at- 
tention of  a  whole  neighborhood,  and  the  frolic  was  anticipated  by 
old  and  young  with  eager  expectation.  This  will  not  be  wondered 
at,  as  a  wedding  was  almost  the  only  gathering  unaccompanied  with 
the  labor  of  .reaping,  log-rolling,  building  a  cabin,  or  planning  some 
warlike  expedition. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  wedding  day,  the  groom  and  his  attend- 
ants assembled  at  the  house  of  his  father,  for  the  purpose  of  reaching 
the  home  of  his  bride  by  noon,  the  usual  time  for  celebrating  the 
nuptials.  Let  the  reader  imagine  an  assemblage  of  people,  without 
a  store,  tailor,  or  mantuamaker  .vithin  a  hundred  miles ;  and  an  as- 
semblage of  horses,  without  a  blacksmith  or  saddler  within  an  equal 
distance ;  the  gentlemen  dressed  in  shoepacks,  moccasins,  leather 
breeches,  leggins,  linsey  hunting-shirts,  and  all  home-made ;  the 
ladies  in  linsey  petticoats  and  linsey  or  linen  bedgowns,  coarse 
shoes,  stockings,  handkerchiefs,  and  buckskin  gloves,  if  any.  If  there 
were  any  buckles,  rings,  buttons,  or  ruffles,  they  were  the  relics  of 
olden  times,  family  pieces  from  parents  or  grandparents.  The 
horses  were  caparisoned  with  old  saddles,  old  bridles  or  halters,  and 
pack-saddles,  with  a  bag  or  blanket  thrown  over  them ;  a  rope  or 
string  as  often  constituted  the  girth  as  a  piece  of  leather.  The  march, 
in  double  file,  was  often  interrupted  by  the  narrowness  and  obstruc- 
tions of  the  horse-paths,  for  there  were  no  roads ;  and  these  difficul- 
ties were  often  increased  by  fallen  trees  and  grape  vines  tied  across 
the  way.  Sometimes  an  ambuscade  was  formed  by  the  wayside, 
and  an  unexpected  discharge  of  several  guns  took  place,  so  as  to 
cover  the  wedding  company  with  smoke.  Let  the  reader  imagine 
the  scene  that  followed  this  discharge  ;  the  sudden  spring  of  the 
horses,  the  shrieks  of  the  girls,  and  the  chivalrous  bustle  of  their 
partners  to  save  them  from  falling.  If  a  wrist,  elbow,  or  ancle  hap- 


14:0  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST 


pened  to  be  sprained,  it  was  tied  with  a  h^kercbief,  and  little 
more  was  thought  or  said  about  it. 

"  The  ceremony  of  the  marriage  prtf&tad  the  dinner,  which  was 
a  substantial  backwoods  feast  of  beef,  pork,  fowls,  and  sometimes 
venison  and  bear  meat  roasted  and  boiled,  with  plenty  of  potatoes, 
cabbage,  and  other  vegetables.  During  the  dinner  the  greatest 
hilarity  always  prevailed,  although  the  table  might  be  a  large  slab 
of  timber  hewed  out  with  a  broad  axe,  supported  by  four  sticks  set 
in  auger  holes ;  and  the  furniture,  some  old  pewter  dishes  and  platen, 
eked  out  with. wooden  bowls  and  trenchers.  A  few  pewter  spoons, 
much  battered  about  the  edges,  were  seen  at  some  tables ;  the  rest 
were  made  of  horn.  If  knives  were  scarce,  the  deficiency  was  made 
up  by  the  scalping  knives  which  every  man  carried  in  sheaths  sus- 
pended to  the  belt  of  the  hunting-shirt*  After  dinner  the  dancing 
commenced,  and  generally  lasted  till  the  next  morning.  The  figures 
of  the  dances  were  three  and  four-handed  reels  and  jigs.  The  com- 
mencement was  always  a  square  four,  which  was  followed  by  what  was 
called  'jigging  it  off; '  that  is,  two  of  the  four  would  single  out  for  a 
jig,  and  be  followed  by  the  remaining  couple.  The  jigs  were  often 
accompanied  with  what  was  called  '  cutting  out ; '  that  is,  when 
either  of  the  parties  became  tired  of  the  dance,  on  intimation,  the 
place  was  supplied  by  some  one  of  the  company,  without  any  inter- 
ruption to  the  dance.  In  this  way  it  was  often  continued  till  the 
musician  was  heartily  tired  of  his  situation.  Towards  the  latter  part 
of  the  night,  if  any  of  the  company,  through  weariness,  attempted 
to  conceal  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  sleeping,  they  were  hunted 
up,  paraded  on  the  floor,  and  the  fiddler  ordered  to  play  '  Hang  out 
till  to-morrow  morning.5 

"  About  nine  or  ten  o'clock  a  deputation  of  the  young  ladies  stole 
off  the  bride  and  put  her  to  bed.  In  doing  this  it  frequently  happened 
that  they  had  to  ascend  a  ladder  instead  of  stairs,  leading  from  the 
dining  and  ball-room  to  a  loft,  the  floor  of  which  was  made  of  clap- 
boards lying  loose.  This  ascent,  one  might  think,  would  put  the 
bride  and  her  attendants  to  the  blush  ;  but  as  the  foot  of  the  ladder 
was  commonly  behind  the  door,  purposely  opened  for  the  occasion, 


S  POETS. 


and  its  rounds  at  the  inner  ends  were  well  hung  with  hunting- 
shirts,  dresses,  and  other  articles  of  clothing — the  candles  being  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  house,  the  exit  of  the  bride  was  noticed  but  by 
few.  This  done,  a  deputation  of  young  men,  in  like  manner,  stole  off 
the  groom,  while  the  dance  still, -continued,  and  late  at  night  refresh- 
ment in  the  shape  of 4  black  Baity' — the  bottle — was  sent  up  the  ladder, 
with  sometimes  substantial  accompaniments  of  bread,  beef,  pork  and 
cabbage.  The  feasting-  and  dancing  often  lasted  several  days,  at  the 
end  of  which  the  *n°le  company  were  so  exhausted  with  loss  of 
sleep,  that  m^/  days'  rest  was  requisite  to  fit  them  to  return  to 
their 'ordin^r  labors." 

Some^nes  ft  happened  that  neighbors  or  relations  not  asked  to 

the  wt^no>  ^°°k  offence,  and  revenged  themselves  by  cutting  off 

^  .nanes,  foretops  and  tails  of  horses  belonging  to  the  wedding 

company. 

The  same  writer  thus  describes  the  usual  manner  of  settlinor  a 

o 

young  couple  in  the  world : — "  A  spot  was  selected  on  a  piece  of 
land  belonging  to  one  of  the  parents,  for  their  habitation,  and  a  day 
appointed  shortly  after  their  marriage,  to  commence  the  work  of 
building  their  cabin.  The  materials  were  prepared  on  the  first  day, 
and  sometimes  the  foundation  laid  in  the  evening.  The  second 
day  was  allotted  for  the  raising.  The  cabin  being  furnished,  the 
ceremony  of  housewarming  took  place  before  the  young  couple 
were  permitted  to  move  into  it.  The  house-warming  was  a  dance 
of  a  wholo  night's  continuance,  made  up  of  the  relations  of  the 
bridegroom  and  their  neighbors.  On  the  day  following,  the  young 
couple  took  possession  of  their  new  premises. 

"  Many  of  the  sports  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  country  were 
imitative  of  the  exercises  and  stratagems  of  hunting  and  war.  Boys 
were  taught  the  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow  at  an  early  ago  ;  but 
although  they  acquired  considerable  adroitness,  so  as  to  kill  a  bird 
or  squirrel,  yet  it  appears  to  me  that  in  the  hands  of  the  white 
people,  the  bow  and  arrow  could  never  be  depended  on  for  warfare 
or  hunting.  One  important  pastime  of  the  boys — that  of  imitating 
the  noise  of  every  bird  and  beast  in  the  woo<Js — was  a  necessary 


142  PIONEEK   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

part  of  education  on  account  of  its  utility  under  certain  circum- 
stances. Imitating  the  gobbling  and  other  sounds  of  the  wild 
turkey,  often  brought  those  ever  watchful  tenants  of  the  fortst 
within  reach  of  the  rifle.  The  bleating  of  the  fawn  brought  its  dam 
to  her  death  in  the  same  way.  The  hunter  often  collected  a  com- 
pany of  mopish  owls  to  the  trees  ^bout  his  camp,  and  amused 
himself  with  their  hoarse  screaming.  His  howl  would  raise  and 
obtain  responses  from  a  pack  of  wolves,  s*  as  to  inform  him  of  their, 
whereabouts,  as  well  as  to  guard  him  against  th^;r  depredations. 

"  This  imitative  faculty  was  sometimes  requisite  <^  a  measure  of 
precaution  in  war.      The  Indians,  when  scattered  abou,  in  a 
borhood,  often  collected  together  by  imitating  turkeys  b: 
wolves  or  owls  by  night.     In  similar  situations  our  people"^  ^ne 
same.     I  have  often  witnessed  the  consternation  of  a  whole  livh- 
borhood  in  consequence  of  the  screeching  of  owls.      An  early  m^ 
correct  use  of  this  imitative  faculty  was  considered  as  an  indication 
that  its  possessor  would  become  in  due  time  a  good  hunter  and  a 
valiant  warrior. 

"  Throwing  the  tomahawk  'was  another  boyish  sport  in  which 
many  acquired  considerable  skill.  The  tomahawk,  with  its  handle 
of  a  certain  length,  will  make  a  given  number  of  turns  within  a 
certain  distance ;  say  in  five  steps  it  will  strike  with  the  edge,  the 
handle  downwards — at  the  distance  of  seven  and  a  half  it  will 
strike  wiih  the  edge,  the  handle  upwards,  and  so  on.  A  little 
experience  enabled  the  boy  to  measure  the  distance  with  his  eye 
when  walking  through  the  wood,  and  to  strike  a  tree  with  his  toma 
hawk  in  any  way  he  chose.  A  well  grown  boy  at  the  age  of  twelve 
or  thirteen,  was  furnished  with  a  small  rifle  and  shot  pouch.  He 
then  became  a  foot  soldier,  and  had  his  port-hole  assigned  him. 
Hunting  squirrels,  turkeys,  and  racoons,  soon  made  him  expert  in 
the  use  of  his  gun. 

"  The  athletic  sp§ rts  of  running,  jumping,  and  wrestling,  were  the 
pastimes  of  boys  in  common  with  men.  Dramatic  narrations, 
chiefly  concerning  Jack  and  the  Giant,  furnished  our  young  people 
with  another  source  of  amusement  during  their  leisure  hours.  The 


HUNTING.  ]  43 

different  incidents  of  the  narration  were  easily  committed  to  memory, 
and  have  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation."  The 
singing  of  the  first  settlers  was  rude  enough.  "  Robin  Hood 
furnished  a  number  of  our  songs  ;  the  balance  were  mostly  tragical ; 
these  were  denominated  i  love  songs  about  murder.'  As  to  cards, 
dice,  backgammon,  and  other  games  of  chance,  we  knew  nothing 
about  them.  They  are  among  the  blessed  gifts  of  civilization  ! 

"  Hunting  was  an  important  part  of  the  employment  of  the  early 
settlers.  For  some  years  the  woods  supplied  them  with  the 
greater  amount  of  their  subsistence,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing 
for  families  to  live  several  months  without  a  mouthful  of  bread.  It 
frequently  happened  that  there  was  no  breakfast  till  it  was  obtained 
from  the  woods.  Fur  constituted  the  people's  money ;  they  had 
nothing,  else  to  give  in  exchange  for  rifles,  salt,  and  iron,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  mountains.  The  fall  and  early  part  of  the  winter 
was  the  season  for  hunting  the  deer,  and  the  whole  of  the  winter, 
including  part  of  the  spring,  for  bears  and  fur-skinned  animals.  It 
was  a  customary  saying,  that  fur  is  good  during  every  month  in  the 
name  of  which  the  letter  E,  occurs. 

"  As  soon  as  the  leaves  were  pretty  well  down,  and  the  weather 
became  rainy,  accompanied  with  light  snows,  these  men,  after  acting 
the  part  of  husbandmen  as  far  as  the  state  of  warfare  permitted, 
began  to  feel  that  they  were  hunters,  and  became  uneasy  at  home, 
their  minds  being  wholly  occupied  with  the  camp  and  chase. 
Hunting  was  not  a  mere  ramble  in  pursuit  of  game,  in  which  there 
was  nothing  of  skill  and  calculation  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  hunter 
before  he  set  out  in  the  morning,  was  informed  by  the  state  of  the 
weather  where  he  might  reasonably  expect  to  find  his  game, 
whether  on  the  bottom,  the  sides,  or  tops  of  the  hills.  In  stormy 
weather  the  deer  always  seek  the  most  sheltered  places,  and  the 
leeward  side  of  the  hills.  In  rainy  weather,  when  there  is  not 
much  wind,  they  keep  in  the  open  woods  on  the  high  ground.  In 
every  situation  it  was  requisite  for  the  hunter  to  ascertain  the 
course  of  the  wind,  so  as  to  get  the  leeward  of  the  game.  As  it 
was  necessary,  too,  to  know  the  cardinal  points,  he  had  to  observe 


PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

the  trees  to  ascertain  them.  The  bark  of  an  aged  tree  is  thicker 
and  much  rougher  on  the  north  than  the  south  side  ;  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  the  moss.  From  morning  till  night  the  hunter  was 
on  the  alert  to  gain  the  wind  of  his  game,  and  approach  them  with- 
out being  discovered.  If  he  succeeded  in  killing  a  deer,  he  skinned 
it  and  hung  it  up  out  of  the  reach  of  the  wolves,  and  immediately 
resumed  the  chase  till  the  close  of  the  evening,  when  he  bent  his 
course  towards  his  camp ;  when  arrived  there  he  kindled  up  his  fire, 
and  together  with  his  fellow  hunter,  cooked  his  supper.  The  supper 
finished,  the  adventures  of  the  day  furnished  tales  for  the  evening, 
in  which  the  spike-buck,  the  two  and  three  pronged  buck,  the  doe 
and  barren  doe,  figured  to  great  advantage."* 

"  A  place  for  a  camp  was  selected  as  near  water  as  convenient, 
and  a  fire  was  kindled  by  the  side  of  the  largest  suitable  log  that 
could  be  procured.  The  ground  was  preferred  to  be  rather  sideling, 
that  the  hunters  might  lie  with  the  feet  to  the  fire,  and  the  head  up 
hill.  The  common  mode  of  preparing  a  repast  was  by  sharpening  a 
stick  at  both  ends,  and  sticking  one  end  in  the  ground  before  the, 
fire,  and  their  meat  on  the  other  end.  This  stick  could  be  turned 
round,  or  the  meat  on  it,  as  occasion  required.  Sweeter  roast  meat 
than  was  prepared  in  this  manner  no  European  epicure  ever  tasted. 
Bread,  when  they  had  flour  to  make  it  of,  was  either  baked  under 
the  ashes,  or  the  dough  rolled  in  long  rolls,  and  wound  round  a 
stick  like  that  prepared  for  roasting  meat,  and  managed  in  the  same 
way.  Scarce  any  one  who  has  not  tried  it,  can  imagine  the  sweet- 
ness of  such  a  meal,  in  such  a  place,  at  such  a  time.  French  mus- 
tard, or  the  various  condiments  used  as  a  substitute  for  an  appetite, 
are  nothing  to  this."f 

*  Doddridge's  Notes.  f  American  Pioneer. 


VII. 

ANN    HAYNES. 

IT  is  mentioned  in  "  The  Women  of  the  American  Revolution,'1* 
that  on  the  approach  of  Cornwallis  to  Charlotte,  the  family  of  Mr 
Brown  sought  refuge  at  the  house  of  James  Haynes,  who  lived  upon 
the  road  leading  north  of  Cowan's  Ford  on  the  Catawba  River. 
While  they  remained  here,  the  British  ia  pursuit  of  Morgan  stopped 
at  the  house,  plundered  it,  and  made  the  owner  a  prisoner.  Mrs. 
Haynes,  despoiled  of  everything  in  the  way  of  provision,  herself  con- 
ducted family  worship  .that  night,  and  praying  for  the  restoration 
of  her  captive  husband,  entreated  earnestly  the  interposition  of 
Providence  to  protect  the  right.  This  pious  and  exemplary 
matron,  whose  heart  bled  for  the  woes  of  her  oppressed  country, 
and  who  encouraged  her  sons  to  struggle  bravely  in  its  defence,  was 
little  aware  of  the  extent  of  the  beneficent  influence  her  noblo 
character  was  to  exercise  on  succeeding  generations.  The  death-bed 
gift  she  received  from  her  father — a  copy  of  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  printed  at  Edinburgh  in  1707 — was  bequeathed 
by  her  as  sacredly  to  her  son,  John  Haynes,  and  is  kept  as  a  vene- 
rated relic  in  his  family.  Eight  of  the  descendants  of  Mrs.  Hayiies 
are  now  ministers  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  devoted  to  the  expo- 
sition and  extension  of  the  true  and  simple  doctrines  of  the  gospel, 

*  Memoir  of  Jane  Gaston,  Vol.  III.  page  229. 
7 


TIONEEK    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

while  others  are  engaged  in  the  same  good  work  in  other  denomina- 
tions— all  carrying  out  and  exemplifying  the  sterling  principles 
derived  from  their  independent  ancestors  of  the  era  of  Cromwell's 
Protectorate. 

One  of  Mrs.  Haynes'  descendants  has  favored  me  with  some 
notices  of  the  matron  and  her  family,  from  the  recollections  of  her 
widowed  daughter-in-law,  Margaret  Haynes,  who  was  for  some 
years  a  resident  of  Cornersville,  in  Tennessee.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Ann  Huggins.  She  was  the  daughter  of  John  Huggins,  a 
Scotch  Presbyterian,  who  emigrated  from  the  north  of  Ireland  to 
America  about  1730.  She  married  James  Haynes  about  1748. 
In  a  catalogue  of  the  Pioneer  Women  of  the  West,  her  name  may 
well  find  a  place.  After  her  marriage,  she  settled  upon  the  verge 
of  civilization,  in  the  county  of  Dauphin,  Pennsylvania,  where  she 
was  exposed  to  the  frontier  troubles  of  that  colony,  but  stronger 
attractions  soon  drew  her  family  to  the  South. 

In  1752,  James  Haynes  and  two  brothers,  and  many  kinsmen 
with  their  families,  ventured  out  to  the  then  Far  West,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Catawba,  in  the  colony  of  North  Carolina.  Here,  upon  the 
very  borders  of  the  hostile  Cherokees  and  Catawbas,  they  established 
themselves,  building  a  fort  as  a  defence  against  Indian  incursions, 
and  maintained  their  position  by  the  strength  of  their  arms.  For 
several  years,  cooped  up  within  the  limits  of  a  frontier  station,  they 
courageously  opposed  the  marauding  parties  of  the  hostile  tribes  in 
their  neighborhood.  It  was  ia  this  year  that  the  settlement  of  the 
upper  country,  both  of  North  and  South  Carolina,  began.  At  that 
time  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  were  east  of  the  mountains  ;  and 
Fort  Duquesne  was  a  French  trading  post.  The  settlements  in 
Virginia  were\still  confined  to  the  Atlantic  slope,  and  it  was  several 
years  later,  when  Col.  Bird  of  the  British  army,  advanced  into 
the  wilderness,  and  established  Fort  Chissel,  as  a  protection  to 
the  advancing  settlements.  Still  later,  Gov.  Dobbs,  of  North 
Carolina,  succeeded  in  establishing  Fort  London,  in  the  midst  of  the 
Cherokee  nation.  Notwithstanding  its  exposed  situation,  the 
settlement  grew  rapidly,  so  that  in  a  few  years  the  entire  valley  of 


ANN    HAYNES.  \\QU/M 

the  Catawba  was  occupied.  At  this  time  there  were  so  many 
buffaloes  in  this  region,  that  a  good  hunter  could  easily  kill  enough 
in  a  few  days,  to  supply  his  family  for  the  year.  Wild  turkeys, 
bears,  deer,  wolves,  and  panthers,  were  also  abundant.  Every  little 
mountain  stream  abounded  with  otters,  beavers,  and  musk-rats. 
Each  pioneer  could  raise  as  many  head  of  cattle  as  he  thought 
proper ;  the  profusion  of  canes  and  grasses,  rendering  stock-raising 
so  easy,  that  the  means  of  plentiful  living  was  almost  to  be  had 
without  labor.  A  few  skins  usually  sufficed  to  purchase  upon  the 
seaboard  all  the  necessary  supplies  of  iron,  salt,  etc.,  for  the  year. 

This  kind  of  life,  requiring  the  daily  use  of  the  rifle,  and  much 
exercise  on  horseback,  and  exposure  to  the  open  air  in  the  woods, 
made  these  hardy  men  the  best  of  soldiers,  and  enabled  them  to 
cope  with  the  wild  warriors  of  the  savage  tribes  who  dwelt  on  their 
borders.  The  axe,  and  the  rifle,  and  the  horse,  were  their  constant 
companions.  Each  settler  sought  a  home  near  some  clear  spring 
or  stream,  convenient  to  the  range  and  susceptible  of  defence 
against  the  Indians.  In  such  a  settlement  the  means  of  education 
were  limited,  and  but  for  the  religious  zeal  and  pious  labors  of  a 
few  educated  ministers  who  cast  their  fortunes  with  the  colonists, 
would  have  been  unattainable.  The  Rev.  Hezekiah  Balch,  after- 
wards a  signer  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence, 
was  one  of  (hem. 

In  all  the  trials  and  disorders  of  the  transition  state  of  society 
peculiar  to  the  frontiers  of  the  West,  these  pioneers  never  forgot  the 
principles,  nor  gave  up  the  practice  of  those  Christian  virtues  which 
they  had  received  from  their  ancestors.  Here,  in  the  midst  of  the 
solitudes  of  their  deep  pine  forests,  they  reared  their  sons  and 
daughters  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in  the  love  of  liberty,  and  when 
the  storm  of  civil  war  burst  forth,  and  they  were  called  upon  to 
sustain  the  cause  of  an  oppressed  people,  they  did  not  hesitate  to 
send  their  sons  forth  to  battle  for  "  the  right." 

An  aged  citizen  of  Mai-shall  County,  Tennessee,  often  described 
the  appearance  of  his  own  father  and  James  Ilaynes,  both  prisoners 
in  the  hands  of  the  British  the  night  after  Gen.  Davidson's  death  at 


H8  PIONEEK  WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

Cowan's  Ford.  He  saw  these  aged  raen  and  many  other  prisoners 
driven  like  sheep  into  a  corn-crib,  the  door  of  which  was  filled  with 
rails,  and  a  sentinel  placed  over  it ;  and  thus  without  blanket  or 
fire,  they  passed  a  long  winter  night  in  1781. 

The  venerable  Mrs.  Haynes  survived  her  husband  but  a  short 
time.  True  to  the  principles  of  her  faith,  upon  her  dying  bed  she 
gave  to  each  of  her  children  her  parting  words  of  advice  with  one  of 
the  religious  books  contained  in  her  library.  To  her  son  John,  she  ' 
gave  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith ;  to  another,  Banyan's 
Pilgrim's  Progress ;  to  a  third,  Flavel,  etc.,  works  usually  found  in 
that  day  in  the  library  of  every  Christian.  She  died  about  the  year 
1790. 

Her  husband  was  no  less  stern  and  inflexible  in  his  religious  prin- 
ciples. When  the  question  of  the  introduction  of  the  new  version 
of  the  Psalms  was  agitated  in  the  Church  at  Centre  Meeting-House, 
after  much  debate,  it  was  put  to  the  vote,  and  Haynes  was  left 
alone  as  the  advocate  of  the  old  version.  His  brethren  tauntingly 
asked  him  if  he  was  going  to  stand  out  alone.  He  replied,  "  yes,  as 
lon<?  as  the  world  stands ;  "  and  so  he  did  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

O  ' 

A  rude  and  humble  stone  now  marks  the  last  resting  place  of 
both,  at  their  own  home,  near  Centre  Meeting-House,  Iredell  County, 
N".  C.,  where,  more  than  .a  century  ago,  they  sat  down  amidst  the 
dim  solitudes  of  the  western  wilderness.  The  old  homestead  is  now 
the  residence  of  James  Sloan,  a  relative  of  the  family. 

The  three  sons,  Joseph,.  John  and  James,  and  the  son-in-law,  Capt. 
Scott,  bore  arms  against  the  Cherokees,  and  against  the  British  and 
loyalists.  They  were  brave  young  men,  of  active  habits,  and  accus- 
tomed to  hard  service ;  rode  much  about  the  country,  and  were 
always  ready  for  any  enterprise  requiring  toil  and  exposure,  or  skill 
and  daring.  In  proportion  as  they  made  themselves  useful  to  the 
whig  party,  they  were  of  course  persecuted  by  the  loyalists.  Their 
irregular  life  in  military  service  never  caused  them  to  do  aught  con- 
trary to  the  strict  principles  of  their  faith  ;  they  never  travelled,  ex- 
cept when  rigid  necessity  required  it,  on  the  Sabbath,  being  Puritans 
enough  to  look  upon  profanity  and  Sabbath-breaking  with  as  much 


ANN    HAYNES.  149 

abhorrence  as  upon  horse  stealing.  They  served — John  bearing  a 
prominent  part — in  the  first  battle  fought  in  North  Carolina  in  which 
the  whigs  were  victorious,  after  the  suspension  of  hostilities  succeed- 
ing the  fall  of  Charleston ;  that  of  Ramsour's  Mill,  in  Lincoln  County.* 

Capt.  Scott,  the  son-in-law  of  Mrs.  Haynes,  was  killed  at  Cowan's 
Ford,  at  the  same  time  with  Gen.  Davidson,  who  had  been  stationed 
there  by  Gen.  Greene,  with  a  small  force,  to  delay  the  passage  of  the 
British  army  across  the  Catavvba.  Joseph  Ilaynes  barely  escaped  * 
with  his  life  in  this  action.  Soon  after,  the  British  passing,  as  already 
mentioned,  near  the  house  of  the  elder  James  Haynes,  stopped  and 
plundered  it,  took  him  prisoner,  and  boasted  in  the  hearing  of  his 
family,  that  they  had  killed  his  son-in-law  at  the  Ford,  hinting  that 
his  sons  also  were  either  killed  or  captured.  The  old  man  was  over 
sixty,  and  m  feeble  health  ;  his  venerable  appearance  and  Quaker 
habiliments  should  have  secured  their  respect,  but  the  crime  of  send- 
ing so  many  brave  sons  to  battle  was  not  to  be  forgiven.  Family  tra- 
dition, confirmed  by  the  recollection  of  his  daughter-in-law,  states  that 
they  pulled  off  his  coat,  overcoat,  and  silver  knee  and  shoe-buckles, 
and  made  him  dismount  and  walk  on  through  mud  and  water,  urged 
forward  by  the  prick  of  bayonets  ;  also  that  the  news  of  his  capture 
and  the  pillaging  of  his  house  was  carried  to  his  sons  by  his  daugh- 
ter Hannah,  who  made  her  way  through  bypaths  for  forty  miles, 
eluding  the  marauding  parties  scattered  through  the  country,  to  the 
American  army.  Her  brothel's  immediately  set  off  in  pursuit,  found 
their  father  at  length  by  the  roadside,  watched  over  by  a  wounded 
American  soldier,  and  conveyed  him  home. 

Another  adventure  is  remembered,  in  which  John  Haynes  figured, 
during  that  memorable  retreat  of  Gen.  Greene.  '  He  was  sent  as  a 
scout,  with  three  others,  to  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  Tarleton's 
dragoons.  While  posted  on  a  hill  they  were  suddenly  startled  by 
the  appearance  of  a  squadron  of  his  light  horse  turning  round  a 
clump  of  trees  close  at  hand,  with  the  design  of  cutting  off  their 

*  A  description  of  this  battle,  communicated  by  a  southern  gentleman,  has 
been  rendered  superfluous  by  the  very  full  and  graphic  account  contained  in 
Mr.  Wheeler's  excellent  History  of  North  Carolina,  recently  published. 


150  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

retreat.  The  only  point  left  open  was  a  lane,  a  mile  or  so  long, 
through  a  wide  plantation.  The  four  whigs  instantly  commenced 
the  race,  closely  pursued  by  the  British  dragoons  with  their  drawn 
sabres,  the  parties  near  enough  to  hear  each  other's  voices — the  roy- 
alists calling  upon  the  rebel  squad  to  surrender,  and  now  and  then 
discharging  a  pistol  to  enforce  the  order.  The  hindmost  fugitive, 
one  George  Locke,  was  at  length  cut  down  by  a  sabre-stroke,  and 
'killed  ;  the  others,  hotly  pursued,  reached  the  end  of  the  lane,  and 
instantly  turned  into  the  thick  woods,  where  they  could  ride  with 
ease,  being  practised  woodsmen,  while  the  progress  of  the  heavy- 
armed  dragoons  of  Tarleton  was  retarded.  As  they  dashed  into  the 
cover,  they  discharged  their  pistols  over  their  shoulders,  killing  the 
leading  horseman,  a  subaltern,  who  had  the  moment  before  cut 
down  their  companion,  and  was  almost  in  the  act  of  performing  the 
same  office  for  them.  Fearing  an  ambuscade,  the  party  hastily  re- 
treated, leaving  the  body  of  the  subaltern  where  he  fell.  His  uni- 
form was  taken  off  by  a  negro,  and  often  worn  by  him  after  the 
close  of  the  war. 

In  his  advanced  age  John  Haynes  often  amused  his  friends  by 
recounting  this  and  other  anecdotes  of  races  with  the  British  troop- 
ers. On  one  occasion  he  was  alone,  hemmed  in  by  pursuing  horse- 
men, and  driven  to  the  banks  of  Candle  Creek,  at  a  point  where  the 
height  of  the  banks  and  the  width  of  the  channel  seemed  to  pre- 
clude all  hope  of  escape.  Being  well  mounted  and  a  fearless  rider, 
he  dashed  to  the  stream,  his  enemies  close  upon  him  with  drawn 
sabres,  cleared  the  creek  at  a  bound,  and  was  safe  from  his  pursuers 
who  dared  not  make  the  leap. 

The  two  other  sons,  Joseph  and  James,  were  with  Gates  and 
Greene,  and  in  many  of  the  most  trying  scenes  of  the  war.  Joseph 
was  one  of  the  first  who  broke  the  cane  and  hunted  the  buffalo  in 
the  valley  of  Duck  River,  Tennessee.  He  was  a  brave  soldier  and 
an  ardent  patriot.  It  was  his  boast,  that  of  all  his  kinsmen  who 
were  able  to  bear  arms,  there  was  not  one  who  did  not  fight  on  the 
side  of  the  Republic.  He  survived  most  of  them  who  served  with 
him,  and  after  a  long  and  useful  life  in  tjie  land  to  which  he  had 


ANJN     HAYXKS.  151 

gone  as  a  pioneer,  he  died  in  July  1845,  at  his  residence  on  Silver 
Creek,  Maury  County,  Tennessee,  in  the  96th  year  of  his  age. 

His  brother  John  was  born  in  a  fort  or  station  in  the  valley  of  the 
Catawba,  where  his  family  had  taken  shelter  from  the  incursions  of 
the  Cherokee  Indians  in  1759.  All  three  brothers  with  their  fami- 
lies emigrated  to  Tennessee  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
and  established  themselves  in  the  southern  part  of  Middle  Ten- 
nessee. 

John  Haynes  and  his  sons  opened  the  road  from  the  north  side 
of  Duck  Eiver,  near  Cany  Spring,  to  the  south  side  of  Elk-ridge, 
where  Cornersville  now  stands.  Here  father  and  sons  opened  farms, 
aided  in  erecting  churches  and  school-houses,  and  soon  found  them- 
selves surrounded  by  crowds  of  emigrants  from  Carolina  and  Vir- 
ginia. They  never  forgot  the  precepts  of  their  venerable  ancestor,  nor 
neglected  their  duty  to  pander  to  the  taste  of  a  less  rigidly  moral 
population.  John  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  and  kept  his  char- 
acter for  rapid  riding  to  the  last.  It  was  often  averred  by  his  friends 
that  he  never  rode  in  a  walk,  but  always  in  a  gallop.  He  died  in  1838, 
but  his  widow,  Margaret  Haynes,  survived  him  many  years,  dying 
the  3rd  July,  1851,  at  the  residence  of  her  son,  James  S.  Haynes, 
Esq.,  in  her  88th  year.  Even  at  that  advanced  age,  she  retained 
her  physical  and  intellectual  faculties  so  perfectly,  as  to  render  her 
reminiscences  of  the  times  of  peril  and  bloodshed  both  reliable  and 
interesting.  She  remembered  to  have  heard  llev.  James  McCree 
preach  the  funeral  of  Gen.  Davidson  at  Centre  meeting-house  soon 
after  the  war,  at  which  were  present  more  than  a  dozen  widows  of 
those  who  had  fallen  in  defence  of  their  country.  Her  chief  em- 
ployment was  reading  religious  books  and  studying  the  Scriptures. 
She  gave  food  to  the  hungry  and  clothing  to  the  needy,  encourag- 
ing, reproving,  and  admonishing  those  around  her,  and  diligently 
following  every  good  work. 

There  were  other  children,  daughters  of  James  and  Ann  llayn«-s, 
who  married  worthy  men  in  Rowan  and  Mecklenburg,  North  Caro- 
lina, where  most  of  them  continued  to  live.  Their  descendants  are 
now  widely  scattered  tliruu^li  (lie  \Vest  and  South,  probably  mini- 


152  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF  THE   WEST. 

bering  three  or  four  hundred,  and  many  of  them  have  been  active 
in  the  service  of  their  country.  Several  were  engaged  in  the  war 
of  1812  ;  others  subsequently  in  the  Florida  or  Seminole  war,  and 
in  the  recent  war  with  Mexico ;  Milton  A.  Haynes  being  a  subal- 
tern in  the  Florida  war,  and  a  Captain  of  Tennessee  Volunteers  in 
the  Mexican  war,  and  two  of  his  brothers  serving  as  subalterns. 
One  of  them  lost  his  life  in  the  service.  The  Rev.  Cyrus  Haynes, 
of  Illinois,  and  the  Rev.  John  Haynes  of  Mississippi,  are  the  grand- 
sons, and  several  other  respectable  clergymen  of  different  States  are 
descendants  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 


VIII. 

RUTH   SPARKS. 

RUTH  SEVIER  was  the  second  daughter  of  Gen.  John  Sevier,  by  his 
second  marriage  with  Catharine  Sherrill.  She  was  born — the  precise 
date  is  not  known — at  Plum  Grove,  their  residence  on  the  Nola- 
chucka  in  that  part  of  North  Carolina  now  known  as  East  Tennessee, 
those  settlements  then  forming  the  extreme  borders  of  the  country 
inhabited  by  civilized  Americans. 

During  some  five  and  twenty  years,  the  greater  part  of  the  time 
from  1769  to  1796,  the  settlers — as  it  has  been  seen — were  troubled 
more  or  less  every  year  by  Indian  depredators,  and  murders  and 
bloody  battles  were  common  occurrences.  It  cannot  be  wondered 
at  that  females  born  and  reared  in  the  midst  of  such  perils  should 
be  imbued  with  a  sturdy  courage,  and  a  self-reliance  acquired  only 
by  familiar  acquaintance  with  danger  and  hardship.  Boldness  and 
force  of  character  might  be  expected,  with  the  occasional  manifesta- 
tion of  a  daring  more  than  feminine,  and  a  love  of  wild  and  roman- 
tic adventure ;  while  the  cultivation  of  the  gentler  graces,  and  tlm 
refinement  which  is  such  an  ornament  to  womanhood,  might  be  sup- 
posed to  be  frequently  neglected.  It  will  not  be  rational,  therefore, 
for  modern  judgment  to  condemn  too  rigidly  what  in  the  manners 
of  that  period  did  not  accord  with  the  ideas  of  etiquette  in  vogue  at 
the  present  day.  The  heart  and  the  morals  of  our  ancestors  were 


PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

uncorrupted,  and  we  should  not  mark  for  disapproval  their  non- 
observance  of  external  properties.  "  Times  change,  and  we  change 
with  them,"  is  an  admitted  truth ;  whether  for  the  better  or  not, 
perhaps  it  would  not  be  easy  to  decide. 

Throughout  Western  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  but  few  oppor- 
tunities or  advantages  were  then  offered  for  the  education  of  children, 
and  the  duty  of  instructing  them,  particularly  daughters,  devolved 
chiefly  upon  the  mothers  among  the  frontier  settlers.  This  duty 
was  in  general  attended  to  as  diligently  as  circumstances  permitted, 
and  women  who  had  themselves  enjoyed  in  a  very  limited  degree 
the  privilege  of  schooling,  but  had  graduated  under  the  rough  but 
thorough  tutoring  of  hard  experience,  did  not  often  fail  to  impart  to 
their  little  ones,  with  a  portion  of  their  own  energy,  perseverance, 
and  spirit  of  enterprise,  such  a  knowledge  of  practical  matters  at 
least,  as  proved  sufficient  for  all  purposes  of  life.  Often  too,  they 
incited  their  children  to  avail  themselves  of  opportunities  presented 
to  acquire  even  what  might  be  termed  learning.  Such  training  had 
the  parents  of  our  heroine,  and  such  they  gave  her ;  and  thus  with- 
out any  regular  schooling,  she  made  rapid  attainments,  having  been 
gifted  by  nature  with  a  powerful  and  active  mind,  a  ready  appre- 
hension, and  great  energy  and  strength  of  purpose.  The  condition 
of  society  in  those  unsettled  and  eventful  times,  and  the  stirring  inci- 
dents in  which  her  parents  and  their  associates  were  continually 
forced  to  participate,  had  also  much  effect  in  forming  her  character, 
imparting  a  force,  decision,  and  promptness  which  she  might  not 
otherwise  have  possessed. 

During  the  Indian  ware  in  which  Gen.  Sevier  commanded  the 
troops  and  was  the  leader  in  so  many  expeditions  and  successful 
encounters,  being  acknowledged  as  "the  friend  and  protector  of  the 
exposed  settlements,"  Ruth  evinced  a  strong  interest  in  the  history 
and  character  of  those  warlike  tribes.  She  learned  not  only  the 
names  of  the  chiefs,  but  of  many  of  the  common  warriors.  Some 
of  them  she  saw  at  her  father's  house  in  the  intervals  of  peace,  and 
aviiilcd  herself  of  the .  opportunity  to  become  well  acquainted  with 
them,  and  acquire  a  knowledge  of  their  manners  and  customs.  She 


RUTH   SPARKS.  155 

manifested  a  particular  curiosity  to  learn  as  much  as  possible  of  their 
mode  of  living  and  domestic  habits.  All  the  information  she  sought 
was  readily  communicated  to  her  by  the  Indians,  who  were  influ- 
enced by  grateful  feelings  towards  her  father  for  his  generous  kind- 
ness to  the  friendly  savages  who  had  visited  him,  and  to  some  thirty 
prisoners  whom  he  brought  to  his  house  and  took  care  of  liber- 
ally at  his  own  expense.  These  had  been  selected  from  about  one 
hundred  captives  taken  in  the  year  1781.  Ten  of  these  thirty  re- 
mained for  three  years  at  the  residence  of  Gen.  Sevier.  Ruth  was 
a  great  favorite  with  them  all,  and  not  only  learned  the  Cherokee 
language,  but  so  completely  won  the  regard  of  every  one  of  them, 
that  on  their  return  to  the  nation  they  named  her  to  the  chiefs  and 
warriors  with  such  expressions  of  commendation  as  amounted  to  a 
pledge  of  safety  to  the  family,  in  case  of  any  future  difficulty,  to  be 
considered  more  sacred  than  the  guarantee  extended  to  other  set- 
tlers. The  kindness  shown  by  "  Nolachucka  Jack  "  and  his  wife  to 
the  captives  and  other  Indians,  was  mentioned  the  more  frequently, 
as  it  gave  occasion  to  speak  of  "  Chucka's  Rutha."  "  She  will  be 
chief's  wife  some  day,"  was  the  prediction  of  many. 

Mrs.  Sevier  had  been  accustomed  to  place  much  confidence  in  her 
friends  among  the  children  of  the  forest,  which  she  never  found  be- 
trayed. While  the  captives  were  at  her  house  she  permitted  the 
Indian  girls  to  play  with  Ruth  and  accompany  her  in  errands  and 
visits  to  the  neighbors.  The  watchful  solicitude  they  manifested  at 
all  times  for  her  safety,  and  their  desiro  to  please  her  by  any  little 
service  in  their  power,  convinced  the  mother  that  the  little  girl  WM-* 
entirely  secure  in  their  company,  while  the  unlimited  trust  she 
placed  in  the  savages  was  returned  on  their  part  by  gratitude,  and 
a  determination  to  merit  her  kindly  regard.  Thus,  prisoners  as  they 
were,  they  lived  contented  and  happy,  bound  to  their  host  moro 
strongly  than  bonds  or  imprisonment  could  have  fettered  them. 
The  effect  of  these  mutual  good  offices  was  seen  long  afterwards,  and 
repeatedly  acknowledged  in  various  negotiations  and  treaties,  where 
the  presence  and  "  talks"  of  Gen.  Sevier  exercised  a  decisive  influence 


156  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

in  persuading  the  savages  to  accede  to  the  wishes  of  the  whites  for 
rhe  extension  of  boundaries  and  the  promotion  of  peace. 

Many  instances  are  mentioned  which  caused  alarm  to  the  family 
of  Gen.  Sevier  and  the  settlers  living  on  the  Nolachucka,  in  which 
Ruth's  courage  and  spirit  were  of  service.  Once  she  gave  notice  of 
the  approach  of  tories  in  time  for  her  mother  to  have  the  most 
valuable  articles  removed  from  the  house,  and  concealed  in  an  old 
lime-kiln.  On  another  occasion,  while  playing  or  bathing  in  the 
stream  with  one  of  the  captive  Indian  girls,  she  fancied  she  saw 
enemies  lurking  near  the  banks,  and  hastened  to  give  warning. 
Once  an  attempt  to  cross  the  river  with  the  same  or  another  Indian 
maiden,  had  nearly  proved  a  fatal  experiment,  when  two  young  men 
of  the  same  band  of  Cherokee  captives,  came  unexpectedly  to  their 
relief.  Ruth  learned  in  her  earliest  childhood  to  shoot  well  with  the 
musket  and  rifle,  and  could  take  a  surer  aim  than  many  an  ordinary 
huntsman. 

The  prediction  of  the  Indians  that  "  Chucka's  Rutha"  would 
become  the  wife  of  a  chief  was  fulfilled  singularly  enough,  as  we 
proceed  to  explain.  In  the  early  settlement  of  Kentucky,  when 
violent  and  destructive  attacks  were  made  on  the  settlements — dur- 
ing frequent  incursions  by  the  tribes  living  north  of  the  Ohio  river, 
a  number  of  children  had  been  captured,  and  for  the  most  part 
carried  off  to  the  Indian  villages  near  the  Lakes.  Among  others 
thus  taken,  was  a  child  four  years  of  age,  who  was  either  captured 
or  purchased  by  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Shawanese,  upon 
the  head  waters  of  the  Scioto  River.  This  Indian  had  two  sons 
nearly  of  the  same  age  with  the  youthful  captive,  who  was  adopted 
as  a  third  son,  and  immediately  placed  with  them  as  a  companion 
and  brother,  rather  than  as  a  slave,  being  treated  with  unusual 
kindness  and  indulgence.  He  received  a  new  name  on  his  adop- 
tion— Shawtunte — a  cognomen  which  was  changed  after  his  release 
for  that  of  Richard  Sparks ;  though  whether  the  latter  was  his  true 
and  original  name  or  not,  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  His 
Indian  playmates  were  Tecumseh,  and  his  elder  brother  the  Prophet. 
Both  these  were  afterwards  well  known  as  chiefs  of  power  and 


RUTH    SPARKS.  157 

influence,  and  as  resolute  and  dangerous  enemies  of  the  United 
States.  Tecumseh  was  ambitious,  bold  and  energetic,  and  withal 
of  a  more  amiable  disposition  than  his  brother  ;  but  neither,  of  them 
was  deficient  in  the  qualities  necessary  to  form  the  brave  and 
successful  warrior.  By  their  enterprise  and  exertions  the  plan  was 
organized  for  an  extensive  combination  among  the  tribes  of  the 
West  and  Northwest,  including  some  of  the  Southwest,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  a  general  war  upon  the  Americans.  This  mischievous  con- 
spiracy among  the  tribes  was  got  up  chiefly  through  the  influence 
of  agents  of  the  British  government,  and  threatened  a  vast  amount 
of  misery  and  bloodshed  to  the  extensive  and  exposed  American 
settlements  on  the  frontier.  The  confederacy  was  broken  up  by  the 
victories  gained  by  Gen.  Harrison  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe, 
Nov.  6th,  1811,  and  upon  the  Miami  River,  followed  by  that  of  the 
Thames,  Oct.  5th,  1813.  The  British  Government  had  conferred 
upon  Tecumseh  the  commission  of  a  Major  General.  He  lost  his 
life  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 

To  return  to  Shawtunte.  He  remained  in  the  family  of  Tecum- 
seh about  twelve  years,  till  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  acquiring  the 
habits  of  the  Indians,  and  becoming  a  proficient  in  their  language  ; 
for  he  had,  indeed,  little  knowledge  of  any  other.  Some  time  before 
the  victories  of  Gen.  Wayne  over  the  Indians  on  the  Miamies, 
gained  in  1794,  he  was  exchanged  or  released,  and  having  bid 
adieu  to  his  Indian  friends,  returned  to  Kentucky.  Thence  he 
proceeded  to  the  settlements  on  the  Holston  and  Nolachucka. 
His  relatives  did  not  recognize  him,  particularly  as  he  could  not 
speak  English.  His  mother  only  knew  him  by  a  mark  she 
remembered. 

Having  heard  of  Gen.  Sevier,  and  being  inspired  with  profound 
respect  for  one  who  had  obtained  so  high  a  reputation  as  a  military 
officer,  he  ventured  at  length  to  seek  his  acquaintance.  The 
General  became  deeply  interested  in  the  history  of  the  young  man, 
and  was  anxious  to  obtain  from  him  some  account  that  could  be 
depended  on,  of  the  numbers  and  disposition  of  the  northern  tribes 
of  Indians.  He  desired  also  an  accurate  description  of  -the  country 


158  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

stretching  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Lakes,  over  much  of  which 
Shawtunte  had  passed  in  his  various  travels  while  domesticated 
among  the  savages.  He  was  quite  willing  to  gratify  his  friend  by 
stories  of  Indian  life  and  adventure,  and  his  accounts  of  the  perils 
and  hardships  he  had  encountered  in  his  sojourn  in  the  wilderness, 
awakened  the  lively  sympathy  of  his  auditor.  It  may  be  supposed 
that  the  General  was  not  the  only  listener  on  such  occasions,  to  these 
tales  of  ad  venture  wilder  than  romance,  as  he  had  without  hesitation 
admitted  Shawtunte  to  the  acquaintance  and  hospitality  of  his  fam- 
ily. The  interest  expressed  in  fair  faces  at  his  narration,  could  not 
fail  to  encourage  vivid  details  of  *'  most  disastrous  chances, 

Of  moving  accidents  by  flood  and  field," 

such  as  might  well  enchain  the  hearing  of  those  who  had  seen 
enough  of  Indian  life  to  take  an  interest  in  all  that  concerned  their 
savage  neighbors.  As  an  evidence  of  his  regard,  Gen.  Sevier  pro- 
mised to  exert  his  influence  in  procuring  him  a  military  appointment; 
and  did  so  with  such  good  effect  that  he  was  honored  with  a  cap- 
tain's commission.  He  performed  service  as  a  spy,  and  it  is  said 
was  very  useful  in  Gen.  Wayne's  army ;  also,  that  he  stood  high  as 
an  officer  and  a  gentleman.  Meanwhile  he  had  been  aiming  at  a 
conquest  of  another  sort  in  the  family  of  the  Governor-General, 
having  become  deeply  enamored  of  his  fair  daughter,  Ruth.  Her 
appearance  at  this  time  is  described  as  being  very  prepossessing. 
In  symmetry  of  form  and  grace  of  attitude  she  was  unrivalled.  It 
was  said,  "  she  was  never  in  the  least  awkward ;  she  never  sat, 
stood, or  walked, but  with  a  natural  ease  and  grace  that  was  perfect; 
and  she  was  always  a  figure  for  a  painter."  She  had  regular  and 
delicate  features,  with  a  complexion  extremely  fair,  blue  eyes,  and  a 
chiselled  mouth,  expressive  of'  intelligence  and  lively  humor.  Her 
personal  attractions  were  enhanced  by  a  cheerful  and  sociable  dispo- 
sition, a  self-possessed  and  unembarrassed  manner,  and  a  faculty  of 
accommodating  herself  to  any  situation  or  circumstances,  with 
powers  of  entertaining  conversation  which  made  her  society  sought 


KUTH    SPARKS.  159 

eagerly  by  both  sexes.  It  will  not  be  wondered  at  that  she  never 
failed  to  make  an  impression,  or  that  she  was  an  acknowledged 
centre  of  attraction  ;  yet  as  she  was  entirely  free  from  vanity  or 
arrogance,  and  seemed  animated  not  so  much  by  a  love  of  display 
as  by  a  cheerful  and  kindly  spirit,  and  a  desire  to  enjoy  and  contri- 
bute to  the  enjoyment  of  others,  she  was  not  so  much  envied  as 
loved. 

It  may  seem  strange  enough  that  the  affections  of  a  creature  so 
lovely  and  accomplished,  should  be  bestowed  on  one  as  untutored  as 
the  wild  Indian ;  but  so  it  was,  notwithstanding  the  difference  be- 
tween them  in  education  and  manners,  station  and  prospects  in  life. 
At  the  time  of  his  marriage  with  the  Governor's  daughter,  the  liber- 
ated captive  was  wholly  unlettered,  not  knowing  how  to  read  or 
write.  His  youthful  and  charming  bride  became  his  teacher,  and 
he  soon  made  such  proficiency,  that  "  he  might  have  passed  toler- 
ably in  an  examination  of  boys  in  the  spelling-book."  His  attain- 
ments, however,  were  not  such  as  to  enable  him  to  spell  or  read 
with  perfect  correctness,  or  to  write  with  elegance,  when  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  colonel  in-  the  United  States  army,  and 
was  ordered  to  Fort  Pickering,  on  the  Mississippi.  Here  he  was 
stationed  in  1801-2.  This  military  station,  now  the  beautiful  and 
flourishing  city  of  Memphis,  was  established  on  the  borders  of  the 
territory  of  the  Chickasaw  Indians,  as  a  link  in  the  chain  of  military 
defences  on  the  waters- of  the  great  river,  for  the  purpose  of  preserv- 
ing peace  with  the- savage  nation,  and  protecting  emigration.  The 
purchase  of  Louisiana  followed  soon  after,  and  Col.  Sparks  proceeded 
with  his  regiment  to  New  Orleans  when  the  country  was  given  into 
the  possession  of  the  American  government.  After  this  he  was  sta- 
tioned for  a  short  time  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  for  a  longer  period  at 
Fort  Adams,  in  the  Mississippi  territory.  Mrs.  Sparks  accompanied 
her  husband  to  each  of  these  places,  and  remained  as  long  as  it  was 
his  duty  to  stay  at  the  post.  She  always  performed  the  duty  of  his 
secretary,  keeping  his  accounts,  writing  his  letters,  and  making  out 
his  reports  to  superior  officers  and  the  War  Department. 

In  Natchez  and  other  towns  where  there  was  anything  that  could 


160  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

be  called  society,  the  claims  of  Mrs.  Sparks  to  the  respect  and  admi- 
ration of  social  circles,  did  not  fail  to  be  recognized  ;  she  was,  indeed, 
"  the  cynosure  of  neighboring  eyes,"  and  her  influence  became  very 
extensive.  During  her  residence  in  Louisiana  and  at  Fort  Adams, 
several  of  the  Choctaws  were  in  the  habit  of  calling  almost  daily  at 
her  house,  to  bring 'venison  and  wild  turkeys  or  ducks,  receiving  in 
recompense  some  token  of  remembrance  from  the  "  tyke,  (wife)  of 
Shawtunte,"  for  they  had  learned  the  history  of  Col.  Sparks,  and 
knew  his  Indian  name  ;  also  that  Mrs.  Sparks  was  the  daughter  of 
a  warrior  whose  deeds  were  well  known,  and  whose  bravery  was 
highly  esteemed  by  the  southern  tribes  of  Indians. 

After  a  residence  of  some  ten  years  in  the  Southern  military  Dis- 
trict, the  health  of  Col.  Sparks  became  so  infirm,  that  he  was  induced, 
by  the  earnest  advice  of  Gen.  Sevier,  to  send  an  application  to  the 
War  Department,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  permitted  to 
return  to  Tennessee.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Staunton,  in  Virginia, 
at  which  place,  or  in  its  vicinity,  he  died,  about  1815.  During  this 
'last  visit  to  Tennessee,  he  passed  through  Nashville  and  Gallatin, 
remaining  some  days,  and  recounted  some  of  the  events  of  his  cap- 
tivity to  persons  who  called  upon  him  and  Mrs.  Sparks.  Among 
these  was  Thomas  Washington,  Esq.,  who  is  still  living  in  Nashville, 
and  remembers  many  incidents.  The  gentleman  to  whom  I  am  in- 
debted for  this  memoir,  obtained  many  of  the  particulars  from  Mrs. 
Sparks  herself,  and  from  her  brother,  who  was  from  early  youth  an 
officer  in  the  army ;  while  her  sister,  the  widow  of  Maj.  William 
M'Clelland,  of  the  United  States'  army,  who  now  resides  at  Van 
Buren,  in  Arkansas,  confirms  every  statement.  Some  of  the  records 
pertaining  to  this  portion  of  the  family  history,  are  in  the  Historical 
Society  library  at  Nashville. 

The  father  of  Mrs.  Sparks  has  been  mentioned  as  "  the  Governor," 
although  the  period  alluded  to  was  before  the  organization  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee.  This  honorable  title  had  been  appropriated  to 
him  as  governor  of  the  "  State  of  Frankland,"  from  the  year  1*784  to 
1788.  When  Tennessee  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  he  became 


KUTH    SPARKS.  161 

her  first  governor,  holding  that  office,  with  an  interval  of  only  two 
years,  for  more  than  eleven  years. 

Mrs.  Sparks  entered  into  a  second  marriage  with  an  intelligent 
and  wealthy  planter  of  Mississippi.  Her  residence  was  a  beautiful 
and  highly  improved  country  seat,  within  view  of  the  town  of  Port 
Gibson,  in  Mississippi,  and  the  splendid  hospitality  so  remarkable  on 
these  secluded  plantations,  was  duly  exercised  at  "  Burlington,"  where 
there  was  a  continual  succession  of  visitors.  The  fair  mistress  of  this 
stately  abode  was  distinguished  by  the  same  cheerfulness,  genial  kind- 
ness and  attention  to  her  guests  as  in  her  more  youthful  years.  She 
was  a  model  housewife,  and  everything  about  her  establishment  was 
always  in  perfect  order.  In  the  summer  of  1824,  while  on  a  visit 
to  some  friends  at  Maysville,  Kentucky,  her  useful  life  was  termi- 
nated, her  faith  in  the  Redeemer  growing  brighter  as  the  final  scene 
'  approached.  She  never  had  any  children,  but  was  at  all  times  ex 
tremely  fond  of  them,  and  particularly  pleased  with  the  society  of 
young  persons,  who  always  manifested  a  strong  attachment  for  her. 


IX 

SARAH    SHELBY. 

SARAH,  already  mentioned  as  the  eldest  daughter  of  Mrs.  Bledsoe, 
was  born  in  the  first  year  of  the  first  settlement  of  Tennessee.  She 
was  very  young  when  her  family  removed  from  Fort  Chissel,  Vir- 
ginia, to  East  Tennessee.  Their  residence  was  then  on  the  frontier, 
near  the  island  flats,  in  what  is  now  Sullivan  County.  Her  early 
education  was  excellent,  considering  the  circumstances  of  location 
and  the  want  of  the  advantages  of  instruction  which  could  be  en- 
joyed in  older  communities.  She  attended  the  first  and  only  lessons 
in  dancing,  given  in  1784,  not  long  before  her  marriage,  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Harris,  twelve  miles  from  Col.  Bledsoe's  residence.  The 
teacher  was  Capt.  Barrett,  an  English  officer  who  had  served  under 
the  royal  banner  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  then  left  the 
service,  determined  to  cast  his  lot  for  the  rest  of  his  days  with  the 
brave  republicans  against  whose  liberties  he  had  fought.  It  was 
among  the  singular  vicissitudes  of  life,  that  a  loyal  captain  who  in 
all  probability  had  served  under  Col.  Ferguson  at  the  battle  of 
King's  Mountain,  battling  to  the  death  against  the  Tennessee 
mountaineers,  should  be  found  afterwards  in  the  wilderness  giving 
lessons  to  their  daughters  in  this  graceful  accomplishment !  The 
gentleman  who  furnishes  this  memoir  quaintly  observes,  that  "  not 


SARAH    SHELBY*  1C3 

being  able  to  make  the  fathers  run,  he  was  content  with  making  the 
daughters  dance." 

While  the  family  still  lived  in  Sullivan  County,  Miss  Bledsoe  was 
married,  in  1784,  to  David  Shelby.  Soon  after,  the  young  couple, 
with  Col.  Bledsoe  and  his  family,  came  and  fixed  their  homes  in  the 
midst  of  the  wilderness  of  the  Cumberland  Valley,  which  Bledsoe 
and  his  brother  had  explored  in  1779.  The  journey  by  land  at  that 
time  from  East  Tennessee  was  a  difficult  and  perilous  one,  across 
mountains  and  through  forests  and  canebrakes,  where  it  was  im- 
possible to  force  a  wagon.  Every  article  carried  had  to  be  packed 
on  horses. 

The  families  who  formed  this  pioneer  settlement  in  the  Cumber- 
land Valley  were  not  destitute  of  means  to  live  comfortably  in  a 
region  where  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  could  be  procured, 
but  isolated  as  they  were  from  all  advantages  of  communication 
or  interchange  with  the  friends  they  had  left,  they  were  thrown 
entirely  upon  the  resources  of  their  own  labor  and  ingenuity.  Their 
dwellings  were  rude  cabins  made  of  logs,  sometimes  rough  and 
sometimes  hewn.  For  protection  against  the  Indians  a  number  of 
these  cabins  were  surrounded  by  pickets  bullet-proof,  and  several 
families,  usually  related  to  each  other,  or  attached  as  old  neighbors, 
lived  within  the  fenced  space.  Sometimes  the  pioneers  resided  in 
the  blockhouses,  built  in  the  salient  points  of  these  picketed  enclo- 
sures. The  upper  story  of  these  blockhouses  projected  over  the 
lower  one,  with  portholes  in  the  floor,  so  that  persons  within  might 
shoot  an  assailant  who  approached  too  near  under  cover  of  the  pro- 
jection. The  term  u  station,"  in  the  frontier  vocabulary  of  those 
times,  meant  a  blockhouse,  picketed  so  as  to  shelter  several  families. 
It  was  usually  called  by  the  name  of  the  builder  or  the  owner  of  the 
land — as  "Buchanan's  Station,"  &c.  Some-,  however,  were  known 
by  more  fanciful  designations,  as  "  Bledsoe's-  Lick,"  "  French 
Lick,"  etc. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  at  the  time  of  Col.  Bledsoe's 
exploration  of  the  Cumberland  Valley,  no  white  man  lived  within 
the  limits  of  Tennessee,  west  of  the  mountains,  except  a  few  French 


164:  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

traders  who  had  become  naturalized  among  the  Indians.  After  the 
removal  of  the  family  they  suffered  many  hardships,  which  pressed 
most  heavily  upon  the  women,  while  shut  up  within  military  de- 
fences in  the  midst  of  the  forest.  No  supplies  of  groceries  or  dry 
goods  could  be  obtained  in  the  valley,  and  all  the  clothing  worn  by 
the  pioneers,  male  and  female,  was  of  home  manufacture.  Not  one 
of  the  females  was  exempted  from  this  labor ;  all  learned  how  to 
spin  and  weave,  and  it  was  the  pride  and  glory  of  these  stout- 
hearted dames  to  prepare  the  material  and  make  up  with  their  own 
hands  the  clothes  worn  by  themselves,  their  husbands  and  children. 
Col.  Bledsoe  was  attired  in  a  full  suit  manufactured  by  his  wife  and 
daughters,  when  he  represented  the  Cumberland  Valley  in  the  Legis- 
lature of  North  Carolina. 

All  articles  of  consumption  which  could  not  be  procured  in  the 
woods  or  raised  on  their  plantations,  were  very  scarce.  Salt  could 
only  be  obtained  by  tedious  and  dangerous  journeys  to  the  Kanawha 
salt  works  in  Virginia,  or  to  some  French  salt  works  in  Illinois,  then 
a  part  of  Louisiana.  Imported  sugar,  coffee  and  tea  were  almost 
excluded  from  use  among  the  families  in  the  valley,  by  the  expense 
and  difficulty  of  procuring  them.  For  the  first  two  or  three  years, 
before  the  dangers  in  the  midst  of  which  they  lived,  permitted  them 
to  cultivate  the  soil  to  any  extent,  even  bread  was  scarcely  to  be  had. 
The  rifle  of  the  pioneer  procured  for  his  family  venison,  bear's  meat 
and  wild  turkeys,  as  well  as  protected  them  from  Indian  marauders. 
A  little  sugar  was  made  every  spring  from  the  maple  trees,  which 
grew  in  great  abundance  in  the  untrodden  forest.  For  this  purpose 
large  parties  of  old  and  young,  male  and  female,  when  they  had 
fixed  upon  a  convenient  location,  assembled  and  bivouacked,  or 
"  camped,"  to  use  their  own  phrase,  in  the  woods  near  the  grove  of 
maples,  which  were  soon  notched  and  pierced.  The  sap  was  caught 
in  small  troughs  dug  out  with  an  axe,  and  carried  to  the  camp, 
where  it  was  boiled  down  in  large  pots.  In  two  or  three  days  thus 
spent,  sugar  enough  was  often  produced  to  furnish  a  year's  supply  for 
a  family,  and  the  occasion  did  not  fail  to  afford  opportunity  for  a 
rustic  re-union  for  all  the  young  people  of  the  neighborhood. 


SAKAH   SHELBY.  165 

Nothing  was  known  at  that  time  of  the  culture  of  cotton.  Flax 
was  grown,  however,  and  the  prettiest  girls  in  the  valley  hatchelled, 
spun  and  wove  it ;  the  forest  trees  and  shrubs  yielding  ample  materials 
for  dye-stuffs,  by  which  a  variety  of  colors  might  be  furnished  for 
ball  or  bridal  costume  for  the  fairest  demoiselles  of  the  new  colony. 
A  beautiful  scarlet  was  produced  from  sassafras  and  sumach,  and  the 
walnut  furnished  a  bright  brown,  of  which  color  were  dyed  the 
jeans  which  formed  full  suits,  elegant  enough  for  the  gentlemen's 
holiday  wearing.  This  material,  made  in  old  style,  is  still  a  favorite 
in  all  the  rural  districts  of  Tennessee,  the  process  of  its  manufacture 
having  been  taught,  as  a  hereditary  art,  by  mother  to  daughter, 
from  generation  to  generation. 

If  we  may  rely  upon  tradition,  the  women  whose  time  was  thus 
passed  exclusively  in  useful  occupations,  and  whose  labors  demanded 
continual  exercise,  were  superior  in  personal  beauty  to  their  paler 
and  more  luxurious  descendants.  Be  that  as  it  may,  their  ideas  of 
feminine  accomplishment  and  female  merit  were  certainly  different 
from  those  of  modern  days.  A  young  woman  then  prided  herself, 
not  on  finery  purchased  with  the  labor  of  others,  but  on  the  number 
of  hanks  of  thread  she  could  spin,  or  yards  she  could  weave  in  a  day 
on  a  rustic  loom,  made,  perhaps,  by  her  father  or  brother.  Many  a 
maiden  whose  father  could  reckon  his  acres  of  land  in  the  wilderness 
by  thousands,  has  appeared  at  church  or  at  a  country  assembly, 
dressed  from  head  to  foot  in  articles  manufactured  entirely  by  her- 
self, and  looking  as  bright  and  lovely  in  her  gay  colors  as  the  proud- 
est city  dame  who  could  lay  the  looms  of  India  under  contribution. 

Mrs.  Shelby's  husband  was  the  first  merchant  in  Nashville,  and 
perhaps  in  middle  Tennessee.  He  established  himself  as  such  in 
1790,  and  after  two  or  three  years,  removed  to  Sumner  County, 
where  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  clerk,  the  first  chosen  in  the 
county.  This  office  he  continued  to  hold,  residing  in  Gallatin,  till 
his  death  in  1819.  He  maintained  throughout  life  a  high  and  ho- 
norable position  among  the  settlers  of  the  Valley,  possessing  qualities 
of  mind  and  heart  which  would  have  commanded  success  and  en- 
ured usefulness  in  the  most  eminent  station  to  which  a  republican 


166  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

could  have  aspired,  in  the  new  State  which  he  and  his  family  aided 
in  building  up.  But  he  was  not  ambitious,  and  preferred  retirement 
in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  and  the  unostentatious  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  an  humble  office,  husbanding  the  resources  he  possessed 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  his  children  a  substantial  education,  and 
fitting  them  for  lives  of  usefulness. 

Mrs.  Shelby  has  frequently  mentioned  incidents  that  occurred  on 
different  occasions  when  she  and  her  husband  were  compelled  to  fly 
from  Indians,  and  narrowly  escaped  destruction.  At  one  time  the 
savages  came  to  the  block-house  where  she  lived,  and  attempted  to 
shoot  through  a  crack  in  the  chimney.  It  happened  that  Mrs. 
Shelby,  feeling  a  presentiment  of  danger,  had  stopped  the  crevice 
on  the  inside  by  a  plank,  which  the  bullets  could  not  penetrate  with- 
out having  their  deadly  force  spent.  The  savages  were  around  the 
house  during  the  night,  as  was  discovered  by  their  tracks  about  the 
place,  and  the  finding  of  several  articles  belonging  to  them,  such  as 
pipes,  moccasins,  etc. 

The  day  after  the  death  of  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe,  Mrs.  Shelby 
went  with  her  husband,  son  and  servants  to  Bledsoe's  Lick,  to  attend 
his  funeral,  although  the  distance  was  ten  miles,  and  it  was  known 
the  Indians  were  in  the  forest.  The  son,  now  Dr.  Shelby,  of  Nash- 
ville, remembers  that  his  father  went  in  advance,  armed  with  a  rifle 
and  holsters,  his  mother  next,  and  that  he  followed  with  a  negro, 
who  also  carried  a  rifle. 

In  1788,  while  living  on  Station  Camp  Creek,  in  Simmer  County, 
Mrs.  Shelby  was  one  day  at  home  with  only  her  little  children.  As 
usual  in  the  early  settlements,  they  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  in  which 
open  places  between  the  logs  served  the  place  of  windows.  Her 
husband  was  in  the  fields,  some  distance  from  the  house.  While 
seated  by  the  fire  she  was  startled  by  the  appearance  of  an  Indian 
warrior,  fully  armed,  approaching  her  cabin.  Quick  as  thought, 
she  took  down  a  loaded  rifle  that  hung  on  the  wall,  and  whispered 
to  her  son,  then  only  sSx  years  old,  to  go  out  by  the  back  door,  and 
run  into  the  field  for  l?is  father,  which  he  did  quietly,  but  with  all 
speed.  Then  placing  herself  near  the  door,  she  put  the  muzzle  of 


SAKAH    SHELBY.  167 

the  rifle  through  a  crack  in  the  wall,  and  stood,  with  her  finger  on 
the  trigger,  ready  to  shoot  the  Indian  as  he  came  near,  approaching 
the  door.  Just  at  the  moment  when  Mrs.  Shelby  was  about  to 
shoot,  with  deadly  aim,  the  savage  saw  the  gun,  and  with  hasty 
strides  retreated  to  the  woods.  Thus  the  heroism  of  the  matron 
saved  not  only  her  own  life,  but  the  lives  of  several  small  children. 
Soon  after  the  retreat  of  the  Indian,  Mr.  Shelby  and  his  son  reached 
the  house,  to  embrace  the  heroic  wife  and  mother,  who  still  stood 
with  the  rifle  in  her  hands. 

The  history  of  Mrs.  Shelby  and  her  family,  if  properly  given,  would 
embrace  almost  the  entire  history  of  Tennessee ;  nor  would  it  be 
possible  to  offer  anything  like  an  adequate  sketch  of  the  founders  of 
the  colony  of  Cumberland  Valley,  without  writing  in  detail  the  his- 
tory of  that  eventful  period.  This  may  be  done  by  some  future  his- 
torian, the  scope  of  whose  work  will  permit  him  to  do  full  justice  to 
the  patient  and  self-denying  toil,  and  the  heroic  deeds  of  those  en- 
terprising pioneers.  Whenever  this  is  done,  the  names  of  Bledsoe, 
Shelby,  Sevier,  Kobertson,  Buchanan,  Rains,  and  Wilson,  cannot  fail 
to  shine  forth  prominently  in  the  picture.  These  men  were  neither 
refugees  from  justice,  nor  outlaws  from  civilization,  but  belonged  to 
a  band  of  patriots  who  came,  Hke  Hooker,  Haynes,  or  Roger  Wil- 
liams, to  set  up  the  altar  of  freedom,  and  find  a  home  in  primeval 
forests,  beyond  the  reach  of  oppression,  where  they  might  live  inde- 
pendently, and  in  time  happily.  They  came  not,  as  they  knevv,  to 
an  ideal  paradise,  or  happy  valley,  but  to  a  dreary  wilderness,  where 
a  thousand  perils  environed  them  ;  beyond  the  paternal  care  of  either 
state  or  federal  government ;  harassed  from  time  to  time  by  a  savage 
foe ;  destitute  of  regular  supplies  of  provisions  or  munitions  of  war ; 
depending  for  subsistence  on  the  forest  and  the  small  patches  of 
cornfield  they  were  able  to  cultivate  in  the  intervals  of  Indian  cam- 
paigns ;  a  mere  handful  of  men,  with  a  few  helpless  women  and 
children,  and  equally  dependent  slaves ;  yet  they  kept  their  ground, 
and  year  by  year  increased  in  numbers  and  strength,  till  after  a 
struggle  of  fifteen  years  against  fearful  odds  of  Indian  enemies,  the 
colony  numbered  from  seven  to  eight  thousand  !  During  all  this  time 


108  PIONEEK   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

of  trial,  the  armed  occupation  was  maintained  with  toil  and  blood- 
shed, both  of  men  and  women,  who  showed,  in  times  of  emergency, 
that  they,  to'o,  possessed  the  lion  will  and  the  lion  heart.  Thrilling 
was  the  story  of  their  adventures,  with  which,  in  after  years,  they 
held  their  listeners  spell-bound ;  and  far  surpassing  the  wildest  ro- 
mance were  their  homely  but  interesting  narratives,  glowing  in  the 
warm  coloring  of  life.  They  told 

c:  How  oft  at  night 

Their  sleep  was  broke  by  sudden  fright, 
Of  Indian  whoop  and  cruel  knife 
To  spill  the  blood  of  babe  and  wife ; 
How  prowling  wolves  and  hungry  bears 
Increased  their  dangers  and  their  cares; 
How  bold  and  strong  these  pilgrims  were — 
That  feared  not  Indian,  wolf,  or  bear; 
By  sickness  pressed,  by  want  beset, 
Each  ill  they  braved,  each  danger  met; 
7JMidst  want  and  war  their  sinews  grew, — etc." 

Among  the- women  of  this  period,  remembered  particularly  for 
the  energy  and  cheerful  self-denial  with  which  they  aided  the  hardy 
pioneers,  encouraging  and  animating  them,  while  sharing  in  their 
labors,  none  did  her  part  more  nobly,  with  more  womanly  grace  as 
well  as  firmness  and  resolution,  than  Mrs.  Shelby.  Her  memory 
preserved  to  an  advanced  age  every  prominent  incident  connected 
with  the  settlement  of  East  Tennessee  and  of  the  Cumberland  Val- 
ley. Every  part  of  the  State,  within  her  recollection,  was  a  wilder- 
ness. Having  lived  through  the  border  troubles  and  succeeding 
years  of  change,  having  survived  the  slaughter  of  her  nearest  rela- 
tives by  the  murderous  Cherokees  and  marauding  Creeks  and  Sha- 
wanese,  she  lived  to  see  that  helpless  and  bleeding  colony  of  the 
Watauga,  increase  and  multiply  and  grow  up  in  the  midst  of  the 
receding  forest  to  a  goodly  State — it  may  be  said,  a  nation. 

This  venerable  matron  died  on  the  llth  of  March,  1852,  in  the 
eighty-sixth  year  of  her  age.  She  was  in  her  usual  health,  and 
occupied  with  her  needle,  only  three  days  before  her  death.  She 


SAEAH   SHELBY.  169 

had  long  been  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  gave  up  her 
spirit  to  God  with  Christian  resignation,  leaving  an  affectionate  circle 
of  her  children  and  descendants  to  mourn  her  departure. 

She  had  been  in  the  habit  of  going  to  visit  her  relatives  in  the 
old  county  where  she  formerly  resided.  The  fourth  of  July,  -1851, 
was  kept  by  a  number  of  aged  pioneers  in  Sumner,  assembled  to 
dine  together,  and  many  were  the  interesting  recollections  called  up 
on  that  occasion. 

After  1832,  Mi's.  Shelby's  residence  was  with  her  son,  Dr.  Shelby 
at  his  beautiful  country-seat,  "  Faderland,"  in  the  vicinity  of  Nasl 
ville,  now  almost  surrounded  by  the  new  town  of  Edgefield.  It  \v 
a  pleasure  to  her  to  receive  and  converse  with  all  interested  in  tho 
early  history  of  Tennessee,  and  she  presented  in  her  own  bearing 
and  character  a  noble  example  of  the  heroines  of  those  times  of 
trial.  The  laborious,  painful,  and  perilous  experiences  of  her  life 
withal,  never  marred  the  harmony  of  her  nature  ;  and  in  advanced 
age  she  had  the  contented  and  cheerful  spirit  of  one  whose  days 
have  glided  away  in  undisturbed  tranquillity.  She  was  a  deeply 
spiritual  Christian,  engaged  continually,  as  far  as  her  strength  per- 
mitted, in  the  dispensation  of  charities,  and  exhibiting  to  those  who 
knew  her,  the  beauty  of  an  humble  and  earnest  "walk  by  faith." 

Her  husband,  David  Shelby,  died  in  1822,  leaving  several  children, 
who  were  reared  to  sustain  their  part  with  usefulness  in  the  arena  of 
life,  and  in  the  midst  of  difficulties  to  exhibit  the  same  energy  and 
patience  which  had  distinguished  their  parents.  Judge  Shelby,  of 
Texas,  was  one  of  these  children.  John,  the  eldest  son,  was  the  first 
white  child  born  in  Sumner  County,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  and 
worthiest  citizens  of  Nashville.  He  determined  in  youth  to 
study  medicine,  and  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  to  have  the  advan- 
tage of  instruction  under  the  celebrated  Dr.  Rush.  He  settled  early 
in  Nashville,  where  for  many  years  he  devoted  himself  successfully 
to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  being  also  occupied  in  the  manage- 
ment of  a  large  private  business,  in  taking  care  of  his  town  pro- 
perty. In  1813,  he  was  a  volunteer  under  Jackson,  in  the  Creek 
war,  and  received  a  wound  in  the  eye  in  the  battle  of  Enotochopco. 
8 


170  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

Though  holding  the  office  of  surgeon  in  the  army,  he  took  an  active 
part  in  rallying  and  leading  the  troops  in  this  memorable  action, 
and  in  acknowledgement  of  his  services  was  honorably  mentioned  by 
the  General. 

He  is  now  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  and  after  an  arduous  and 
well  spent  life,  is  still  able  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  responsible 
office,  and  to  manage  the  business  of  a  large  farm.  One  of  his 
daughters  is  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  George  Washington  Barrow,  late 
representative  in  Congress  for  the  Nashville  District,  and  during  the 
years  1841-5,  Charge  d' Affaires  to  the  court  of  Portugal.  An- 
other daughter  is  Mrs.  Priscilla  Williams,  now  residing  at  Memphis, 
Tennessee. 


REBECCA   WILLIAMS. 

WALTER  SCOTT'S  Rebecca  the  Jewess  was  not  more  celebrated  for 
her  medical  skill  and  success  in  treating  wounds  than  was  Rebecca 
Williams  among  the  honest  borderers  of  the  Ohio  river.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Joseph  Tomlinson,  and  was  born  the  14th  .of  Feb- 
ruary, 1754,  at  Will's  Creek,  on  the  Potomac,  in  the  province  of 
Maryland.  She  married  John  Martin,  a  trader  among  the  Indians, 
who  was  killed  in  1770  on  the  Big  Hockhocking  by  the  Shawanees, 
one  of  her  uncles  being  killed  at  the  same  time.  In  the  first  year 
of  her  widowhood,  Mrs.  Martin  removed  with  her  father's  family  to 
Grave  Creek,  and  resided  near  its  entrance  into  the  Ohio,  keeping 
house  for  her  two  brothers.  She  would  remain  alone  for  weeks 
together  while  they  were  absent  on  hunting  excursions ;  for  she  had 
little  knowledge  of  fear,  and  was  young  and  sprightly  in  disposition. 
In  the  spring  of  1774,  she  paid  a  visit  to  her  sister,  who  had 
married  a  Mr.  Baker,  and  resided  upon  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  oppo- 
site Yellow  Creek.  It  was  soon  after  the  celebrated  massacre  of 
Logan's  relatives  at  Baker's  station.  Rebecca  made  her  visit,  and 
prepared  to  return  home  as  she  had  come,  in  a  canoe  alone,  the  dis- 
tance-- being  fifty  miles.  She  left  her  sister's  residence  in  the  after- 
noon, and  paddled  her  canoe  till  dark.  Then,  knowing  that  the 


172 


PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 


moon  would  rise  at  a  certain  hour,  she  neared  the  land,  leaped  on 
shore,  and  fastened  her  craft  to  some  willows  that  drooped  their 
boughs  over  the  water.  She  sought  shelter  in  a  clump  of  bushes, 
where  she  lay  till  the  moon  cleared  the  tree  tops  and  sent  a  broad 
stream  of  light  over  the  bosom  of  the  river.  Then,  unfastening  her 
boat,  she  stepped  a  few  paces  into  the  water  to  get  into  it.  But,  as 
she  reached  the  canoe,  she  trod  on  something  cold  and  soft,  and 
stooping  down  discovered,  to  her  horror,  that  it  was  a  human  body. 
The  pale  moonlight  streamed  on  the  face  of  a  dead  Indian,  not  long 
killed,  it  was  evident,  for  the  body  had  not  become  stiff.  The  young 
woman  recoiled  at  first,  but  uttered  no  scream,  for  the  instinct  of 
self-preservation  taught  her  that  it  might  be  dangerous.  She  went 
round  the  corpse,  which  must  have  been  there  when  she  landed, 
stepped  into  her  bark,  and  readied  the  mouth  of  Grave  Creek, 
without  further  adventure,  early  the  next  morning. 

In  the  ensuing  summer,  one  morning  while  kindling  the  fire, 
blowing  the  coals  on  her  knees,  she  heard  steps  in  the  apartment, 
and  turning  round,  saw  a  very  tall  Indian  standing  close  to  her. 
He  shook  his  tomahawk  at  her  threateningly,  at  the  same  time 
motioning  her  to  keep  silence.  He  then  looked  around  the  cabin 
in  search  of  plunder.  Seeing  her  brother's  rifle  hanging  on  hooks 
over  the  fireplace,  he  seized  it  and  went  out.  Rebecca  showed  no 
fear  while  he  was  present ;  but  immediately  on  his  departure,  left 
the  cabin  and  hid  herself  in  the  standing  corn  till  her  brother  came 
home. 

In  the  following  year  the  youthful  widow  was  united  to  a  man  of 
spirit  congenial  to  her  own.  Isaac  Williams  had  served  as  a  ranger 
in  Braddock's  army,  and  accompanied  Ebenezer  and  Jonathan  Zane 
in  1769,  when  they  explored  the  country  about  Wheeling,  having 
before  that  period  made  several  hunting  excursions  to  the  waters  of 
the  Ohio.  He  explored  the  recesses  of  the  western  wild,  following 
the  water  courses  of  the  great  valley  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and 
thence  along  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi,  to  the  turbid  waters  of 
the  Missouri ;  trapping  the  beaver  on  the  tributaries  of. this  river  as 
early  as  1770.  His  marriage  with  Rebecca  was  performed  with  a 


KEBECCA    WIJLLIAMS.  173 

simplicity  characteristic  of  the  times.  A  travelling  preacher  who 
chanced  to  come  into  the  settlement,  performed  the  ceremony  at 
short  notice,  the  bridegroom  presenting  himself  in  his  hunting  dress 
and  the  bride  in  short-gown  and  petticoat  of  homespun,  the  common 
wear  of  the  country. 

In  1777,  the  depredations  and  massacres  of  the  Indians  were  so 
frequent  that  the  settlement  at  Grave  Creek,  consisting  of  several 
families,  was  broken  up.  It  was  a  frontier  station,  and  lower  down 
the  Ohio  than  any  other  above  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha, 
It  was  in  this  year  that  the  Indians  made  the  memorable  attack  on 
the  fort  at  Wheeling.*  Mr.  Williams  and  his  wife,  with  her  father's 
family,  moved  to  the  Monongahela  river,  above  Redstone,  old  fort, 
where  they  remained  until  the  spring  of  1783.  They  then  returned 
to  their  plantations  on  Grave  Creek,  but  in  1785  were  obliged  to 
remove  again  into  the  garrison  at  Wheeling.  While  there,  Mrs. 
Williams  excercised  the  healing  art  for  the  benefit  of  the  soldiers,  as 
no  surgeon  could  be  procured.  With  the  assistance  of  Mrs.  Zane, 
she  dressed  the  wounds  of  one  wounded  in  fourteen  places  by  rifle 
shots  while  spearing  fish  by  torchlight,  and  with  fomentations  and 
simple  applications,  not  only  cured  his  wounds,  which  every  one 
thought  an  impossible  undertaking,  but  saved  an  arm  and  leg  that 
were  broken.  Dr.  Hildreth  mentions  that  many  years  afterwards, 
while  he  was  attending  on  a  man  with  a  compound  fracture  of  the 
leg,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mrs.  Williams'  house,  she  was  present 
at  one  of  the  dressings,  and  related  several  of  her  cures  in  border 
times. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Rebecca  Martin,  before  her  marriage  to 
Mr.  Williams,  acted  as  housekeeper  for  her  brothel's  for  several  years. 
In  consideration  of  which  service,  her  brothers,  Joseph  and  Samuel, 
ma.de  an  entry  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  Virginia  shore 
of  the  Ohio  river,  directly  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum, 
for  their  sister ;  girdling  the  trees,  building  a  cabin,  and  planting 
and  fencing  four  acres  of  corn,  on  the  high  second  bottom,  in  the 

*  See  sketch  of  Elizabeth  Zane.  "  Women  of  the  American  Revolution." 
Vol.  II. 


174  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

spring  of  the  year  1773.  They  spent  the  summer  on  the  spot,  oc- 
cupying their  time  with  hunting  during  the  growth  of  the  crop.  In 
this  time  they  had  exhausted  their  small  stock  of  salt  and  bread 
Btuff,  and  lived  for  two  or  three  months  altogether  on  boiled  turkies, 
which  were  eaten  without  salt.  The  following  winter  the  two  bro- 
thers hunted  on  the  Big  Kanawha.  Some  time  in  March,  1774, 
they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  river  on  their  return.  They  were 
detained  here  a  few  days  by  a  remarkably  high  freshet  in  the  Ohio. 

That  year  was  long  known  as  that  of  Dunmore's  war,  and  noted 
for  Indian  depredations.  The  renewed  and  oft  repeated  inroads  of 
the  Indians,  led  Mr.  Williams  to  turn  his  thoughts  towards  a  more 
quiet  retreat  than  that  at  Grave  Creek.  Fort  Harmer,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Muskingum,  having  been  erected  in  1786,  and  garrisoned  by 
United  States  troops,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  would  now 
occupy  the  land  belonging  to  his  wife,  and  located  by  her  brothers. 
This  tract  embraced  a  large  share  of  rich  alluvions.  The  piece 
opened  by  the  Tomlinsons  in  1773,  was  grown  up  with  young  sap- 
lings, but  could  be  easily  reclaimed.  Having  previously  visited  the 
spot  and  put  up  log  cabins,  Williams  finally  removed  his  family  and 
effects  thither,  the  twenty-sixth  of  March,  1787,  being  the  year 
before  the  Ohio  company  took  possession  of  their  purchase  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Muskingum. 

In  the  January  following  the  removal  to  his "  forest  domain,  his 
wife  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  the  only  issue  by  this  marriage.  Soon 
after  the  Ohio  company  emigrants  had  established  themselves  at 
Marietta,  a  pleasing  and  friendly  intercourse  was  kept  up  between 
them  and  Mr.  Williams  ;  and  as  he  had  now  turned  his  attention 
more  especially  to  clearing  and  cultivating  his  farm  than  to  hunting, 
he  was  glad  to  see  the  new  openings  springing  up  around  him,  and 
the  rude  forest  changing  into  the  home  of  civilized  man.  Settle- 
ments were  commenced  at  Belprie  and  Waterford  the  year  after 
that  at  Marietta  ;  as  yet  little  being  done  in  cultivating  the  soil,  their 
time  chiefly  occupied  in  building  cabins  and  clearing  the  land. 

A  brief  account  of  the  progress  of  this  first  settlement  made  in 
Ohio,  will  be  interesting,  and  may  here  be  appropriately  introduced. 


REBECCA   WILLIAMS.  175 

It  is  prepared  from  a  large  volume  of  Notes  on  Pioneer  History,  by 
Dr.  S.  P.  Hildreth. 

The  country  on  the  Ohio  river  was  little  known  to  the  English 
till  about  1740,  after  which  traders  went  occasionally  from  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Virginia,  and  at  later  periods  attempts  were  made  to  make 
settlements  in  different  localities.  In  1787  the  Ohio  company  was 
formed  to  purchase  land  and  form  settlements ;  funds  were  raised 
and  a  large  number  of  acres  contracted  for,  and  surveyors  and  boat- 
builders  were  set  at  work.  In  April,  1788,  a  company  of  pioneers 
started  in  the  "Adventure"  galley  from  Simrell's  Ferry,  thirty  miles 
above  Pittsburgh,  on  the  Yohiogoany,  and  landed  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Muskingum.  Vegetation  was  already  advanced  in  the  wild  spot 
selected  for  their  residence ;  the  trees  were  in  leaf,  and  the  rich 
clover  pastures  offered  abundant  sustenance  for  their  stock.  Lots 
were  surveyed,  and  the  new  town  laid  out  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Ohio,  at  the  junction  of  the  clear  waters  of  the  Muskingum,  was 
called  Marietta,  in  honor  of  Queen  Marie  Antoinette,  whose  friendly 
feeling  towards  the  American  nation  had,  as  it  was  well  known, 
strongly  influenced  her  royal  consort. 

The  location  proved  fortunate  in  point  of  health  as  well  as  fertil- 
ity ;  and  game  being  abundant,  the  emigrants  wanted  for  nothing. 
The  ground  was  soon  broken,  and  corn  and  vegetables  planted.  The 
temporary  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  little  community, 
were  written  out,  and  posted  on  the  smooth  branch  of  a  large  beech 
tree,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum.  The  fourth  of  July  was 
celebrated  by  a  public  dinner  set  out  in  an  arbor  on  the  bank  ;  and 
Gen.  Varnum,  one  of  the  judges,  delivered  the  oration,  while  the 
officers  of  the  garrison  drank  and  responded  to  the  toasts.  The  bill 
of  fare  on  this  occasion,  which  has  been  recorded,  presented  an  array 
of  venison,  bear  and  buffalo  meat,  and  roast  pigs  ;  and  among  the 
fish,  a  pike  weighing  a  hundred  pounds,  speared  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Muskingum.  On  the  20th  July,  William  Brook,  of  New  England, 
preached  the  first  sermon  ever  preached  to  white  men  in  Ohio,  Mo- 
ravian missionaries  having  hitherto  been  employed  to  spread  the 
vuths  of  the  Gospel  among  the  savages.  It  may  be  interesting  to 


176  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

know  what  was  the  text  on  this  memorable  occasion  ;  it  was  in 
Exodus  xix.,  5,6:  "  Now,  therefore,  if  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed, 
and  keep  my  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure  to  me 
above  all  people  ;  for  all  the  earth  is  mine  ;  and  ye  shall  be  unto 
me  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  nation." 

On  the  20th  August,  the  north-west  blockhouse  was-  so  far  com- 
pleted, that  a  dinner  was  given  by  the  directors  of  the  company  to 
Governor  St.  Glair  and  the  officers  of  Fort  Harmer,  which  the  prin- 
cipal citizens  attended,  with  the  wiyes  of  many  of  the  officers,  and 
several  other  ladies,  who  had  thus  early  ventured  into  the  wilderness. 
A  fine  barge,  rowed  by  twelve  oars,  brought  the  company  from  the 
fort  up  the  Muskingum  to  the  opposite  bank,  from  which  the  appear- 
ance of  the  new  fort  was  grand  and  imposing. 

The  first  death  is  noticed  as  that  of  a  child,  on  the  25th  of  August. 
The  number  of  settlers  this  year,  after  a  reinforcement  from  New 
England,  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-two,  and  Marietta  was  at  this 
time  the  only  white  settlement  in  the  territory  now  constituting  tho 
State  of  Ohio.  In  December,  about  two  hundred  Indians  came  to 
make  a  treaty,  and  the  council  fire  was  kindled  in  a  large  log-house 
outside  the  fort.  Articles  were  adjusted  and  agreed  to,  and  the 
Indians  departed  well  pleased  with  the  settlers,  whom  they  pronounced 
very  different  from  the  "  long  knives  "  and  stern  backwoodsmen  of 
Kentucky.  During  the  winter  succeeding,  the  Ohio  was  filled  with 
ice,  and  no  boat  moved  up  or  down  till  March,  which  caused  a  great 
scarcity  of  provisions,  for  nothing  could  be  procured  but  venison  and 
bear's  meat,  and  it  was  difficult  to  find  either  deer  or  bears  in  tho 
vicinity  of  the  town.  The  inhabitants  were  obliged  to  live  for  weeks 
without  bread,  eating  boiled  corn,  or  coarse  meal  ground  in  a  hand- 
mill,  with  the  little  meat  they  could  procure.  As  soon  as  the  river 
opened,  flour  could  be  purchased  from  boats  trading  from  Redstone 
and  the  country  near  Pittshurg,  and  before  long  a  road  was  cut 
through  to  Alexandria.  The  first  marriage,  between  the  Hon. 
Winthrop  Sargent,  secretary  of  the  North  West  Territory,  and  Miss 
Rowena  Tupper,  daughter  of  Gen.  Tupper,  was  celebrated  on  the 
6*,h  February,  1*789,  by  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam,  judge  of  the  Court  of 


REBECCA   WILLIAMS.  177 

Common  Pleas  for  Washington,  the  first  organized  county.  A  pub- 
lic festival  was  appointed  for  the  7th  April,  the  anniversary  of  the 
commencement  of  their  settlement,  and  was  observed  for  many  years, 
till  the  country  became  peopled  with  strangers,  who  knew  nothing 
of  the  hardships  and  trials  encountered  by  the  primitive  settlers.  It 
is  now  sometimes  kept  as  a  holiday,  for  picnic  excursions  or  social 
parties. 

Flint  says  he  distinctly  remembers  the  wagon  that  carried  out  a 
number  of  adventurers  from  Massachusetts,  on  the  second  emigra- 
tion to  the  forests  of  Ohio  ;  its  large  black  canvass  covering,  and  the 
white  lettering  in  large  capitals,  "  To  Marietta,  on  the  Ohio." 

Belprie  was  a  branch  settlement  made  by  the  direction  of  the  Ohio 
company;  the  name  taken  from  "belle  prairie,"  or  beautiful  mea- 
dow. After  the  lots  were  drawn,  the  settlers  moved  to  their  farms 
in  April,  1789,  and  when  their  log  cabins  were  built,  commenced 
cutting  down  and  girdling  the  trees  on  the  rich  lowlands.  From  the 
destructive  effects  of  frost  in  September  of  this  year,  the  crops  of 
corn  were  greatly  injured,,  and  where  planted  late,  entirely  ruined. 
In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1790,  the  inhabitants  began  to  suffer 
from  a  want  of  food,  especially  wholesome  bread-stuffs.  The  Indians 
were  also  becoming  troublesome,  and  rendered  it  hazardous  boating 
provisiops  from  the  older  settlements  on  the  Monongahela,  or  hunt- 
ing for  venison  in  the  adjacent  forests.  Many  families,  especially  at 
IVlprie,  had  no  other  meal  than  that  made  from  musty  or  mouldy 
corn  ;  and  were  sometimes  destitute  even  of  this  for  several  d.-iy-  in 
succession.  This  mouldy  corn  commanded  nine  shillings,  or  a  dollar 
and  a  half  a  bushel ;  and  when  ground  in  their  hand-mills  and 
made  into  bread,  few  stomachs  were  able  to  digest  it,  or  even  to 
retain  it  for  a  few  minutes. 

During  this  period  of  want,  Isaac  Williams  displayed  his  benevo- 
lent feeling  for  the  suffering  Qolonists.  Being  in  the  country  earlier, 
he  had  more  ground  cleared,  and  had  raised  a  crop  of  several  hun- 
dred bushels  of  corn.  This  he  now  distributed  among  the  inlial>i 
tants  at  the  low  rate  of  three  shillings,  or  fifty  cents  a  bushel, 
when  at  the  same  time  he  had  been  urged  by  speculators  to  take  a 
8* 


178      .  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF  THE   WEST. 

dollar  for  his  whole  crop.  "  I  would  not  let  them  have  a  bushel,"  said 
the  old  hunter.  He  not  only  parted  with  his  corn  at  this  cheap  rate, 
but  prudently  proportioned  the  number  of  bushels  according  to  the 
number  of  individuals  in  a  family.  An  empty  purse  was  no  bar  to  the 
needy  applicant ;  but  his  wants  were  equally  supplied  with  those  who 
had  money,  and  credit  was  given  until  more  favorable  times  should 
enable  him  to  discharge  the  debt.  Capt.  Jonathan  Devoll,  hearing  of 
Williams7  corn,  and  the  cheap  rate  at  which  he  sold  it,  made  a  trip 
to  Marietta  to  procure  some  of  it ;  travelling  by  land,  and  in  the  night, 
on  account  of  the  danger  from  Indians,  a  distance  of  twelve  or  four- 
teen miles.  Williams  treated  him  with  much  kindness,  and  aftei 
letting  him  have  several  bushels  of  corn  at  the  usual  price  in  plenti- 
ful years,  furnished  him  with  his  only  canoe  to  transport  it  home. 

Like  Isaac  and  Rebecca  of  old,  this  modern  Isaac  and  Rebecca 
were  given  to  good  deeds  ;  and  many  a  poor,  sick,  and  deserted 
boatman  has  been  nursed  and  restored  to  health  beneath  their  hum- 
ble roof.  Full  of  days  and  good  deeds,  and  strong  in  the  faith  of  a 
blessed  immortality,  Williams  resigned  his  spirit  to  him  who  gave  it, 
the  25th  of  September,  1820,  aged  eighty-four  years,  and  was  buried 
in  a  beautiful  grove  on  his  own  plantation,  surrounded  by  the  trees 
he  so  dearly  loved  when  living. 

In  spite  of  treaties,  the  Indians  continued  to  harass  the  settlements* 
in  western  Virginia,  and  in  August  attacked  a  surveying  party  em- 
ployed by  the  Ohio  Company  in  running  the  lines  of  the  townships. 
The  savages  seemed  to  hold  the  surveyor's  chain  and  compass  in 
utter  detestation.  In  the  winter  of  1*790,  the  governor  of  the  North 
West  Territory,  St.  Clair,  removed  his  family  from  his  plantation  at 
"  Potts'  Grove,"  in  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsylvania,  to  Marietta. 
One  of  his  daughters,  Louisa,  was  long  remembered  as  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  among  the  ladies  of  that  day.  In  strength  and 
elasticity  of  frame,  blooming  health,  energy  and  fearlessness,  she  was 
the  ideal  of  a  soldier's  daughter,  extremely  fond  of  adventure  and 
frolic,  and  ready  to  draw  amusement  from  everything  around  her. 
She  was  a  fine  equestrian,  and  would  manage  the  most  spirited 
horse  with  perfect  ease  and  grace,  dashing  at  full  gallop  through  the 


LOUISA    ST.    CLAIR.  174J 

open  woodland  surrounding  the  "  Campus  Martius,"  and  leaping  over 
logs  or  any  obstacle  in  her  way.     She  was  also  expert  in  skating, 
and  was  rivalled  by  few,  if  any  young  men  in  the  garrison,  in  the 
speed,  dexterity,  and  grace  of  movement  with  which  she  exercised 
herself  in  this  accomplishment.     The  elegance  of  her  person,  and 
her  neat,  well-fitting  dress,  were  shown  to  great  advantage  in  her 
rapid  gyrations  over  the  broad  sheet  of  ice  in  the  Muskingum,  which 
for  a  few  days  in  winter  offered  a  fine  field,  close  to  the  garrison,  for 
this  healthful  sport;  and  loud  were  the  plaudits  from  young  and  old, 
from  spectators  of  both  sexes,  called  forth  by  the  performance  of  tho 
governor's  daughter.     As  a  huntress  she  was  equally  distinguished, 
and  might  have  served  as  a  model  for  a  Diana,  in  her  rambles 
through  the  forest,  had  she  been  armed  with  a  bow  instead  of  a  rifle, 
of  which  latter  instrument  she  was  perfect  mistress,  loading  and 
firing  with  the  accuracy  of  a  backwoodsman,  killing  a  squirrel  on 
the  top  of  the  tallest  tree,  or  cutting  off  the  head  of  a  partridge  with 
wonderful  precision.     She  was  fond  of  roaming  through  the  woods, 
and  often  went  out  alone  into  the  forest  near  Marietta,  fearless  of 
the  savages  who  often  lurked  in  the  vicinity.     As  active  on  foot  as 
on  horseback,  she  could  walk  several  miles  with  the  untiring  rapid- 
ity of  a  practised  ranger.     Notwithstanding  her  possession  of  these 
unfeminine   attainments,  Miss  St.  Glair's  refined   manners    would 
have  rendered  her  the  ornament  of  any  drawing-room  circle ;  she 
was  beautiful  in  person,  and  had  an  intellect  highly  cultivated,  hav- 
ing received  a  carefully  finished  education  under  the  best  teachers  in 
Philadelphia.     Endowed  by  nature  with  a  vigorous  constitution  and 
lively  animal  spirits,  her  powers,  both  of  body  and  mind,  .had  been 
strengthened  by  such  athletic  exercises,  to  the  practice  of  which  sho 
had  been  encouraged  from  childhood  by  her  father.     He  had  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  camps,  and  was  not  disposed  to  tetter 
by  conventional  rules  his  daughter's  rare  spirit,  so  admirably  suited 
to  pioneer  times  and  manners,  however  like  an  amazon  she  may 
seem  to  the  less  independent  critics  of  female  manners  at  the  present 
day.     After  the  Indian  war,  Miss  St.  Glair  returned  to  her  early 
home  in  the  romantic  glens  of  Ligonior  valley. 


ISO  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  woman  who  came  to  Marietta  was  the  wife 
of  James  Owen,  and  that  she  received  a  donation  lot  of  one  hundred 
acres  from  the  Ohio  company  on  this  account.  She  gave  shelter  to  a 
man  who  had  been  put  ashore  from  a  boat  on  the  way  to  Kentucky, 
and  took  the  small-pox  from  him,  which  soon  spread,  and  most  of 
the  inhabitants  were  inoculated  to  preserve  them  from  the  terrible 
ravages  of  the  disease.  Hardly  was  this  anxiety  over  than  the  great 
scarcity  of  provisions  already  noticed  prevailed ;  good  corn  rising  to 
the  price  of  two  dollars  a  bushel,  and  the  distress  increasing  as  the 
summer  approached.  There  were  few  cows  and  no  oxen  or  cattle 
to  spare  ;  hogs  were  scarce,  and  the  woods  were  bare  of  game,  the 
deer  and  buffaloes  within  twenty  miles  having  been  killed  or  driven 
away  by  the  Indians.  In  this  extremity  great  land  ness  vvas  shown 
among  the  settlers,  each  sharing  what  he  had  with  his  neighbors, 
and  those  who  had  cows  dividing  their  milk  The  poor  obtained 
supplies  of  fish  from  the  river.  The  Indians  this  year — -1790 — 
commenced  a  new  species  of  warfare,  by  attacking  boats  in  the 
rver  usually  owned  by  emigrants  on  the  way  to  Kentucky,  Their 
principal  rendezvous  was  near  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  and  a  favor- 
ite device  to  get  possession  of  a  boat,  was  to  make  a  white  man 
stand  on  the  bank  and  entreat  the  crew  to  land  and  take  him  on 
board,  saying  he  had  just  escaped  from  Indian  slavery  and  if  recap- 
tured would  be  put  to  death.  By  this  mode  of  appeal  to  the  com- 
passion of  emigrants,  the  men  in  several  boats  were  induced  to  land, 
when  the  savages  lying  in  ambush  would  seize  the  boat  or  shoot 
down  the  crew  from  their  hiding-place.  The  decoy  was  sometimes 
an  actual  prisoner,  whom  they  forced  to  act  his  part,  and  sometimes 
a  renegade  white  who  joined  them  voluntarily  for  the  sake  of  a  share 
in  the  plunder. 

In  October  a  large  company  of  French  emigrants  arrived  at 
Marietta,  coming  down  the  Ohio  in  "  Kentucky  arks,"  or  flatboats. 
Many  were  from  Paris,  and  wondered  not  a  little  at  the  broad  rivers 
and  vast  forests  of  the  West.  The  distress  and  destitution  into 
which  they  were  thrown  by  the  failure  of  the  Scioto  company  to 
fulfil  their  contracts,  and  the  substitution  of  lands  on  the  Ohio 


MASSACRE    AT   BIG    BOTTOM.  181 

below  the  Kanawha,  are  mentioned  in  another  sketch.  Gen.  Rufus 
Putnam  was  commissioned  by  the  principal  men  in  the  Scioto  com- 
pany to  build  houses  and  furnish  provisions  for  these  colonists,  and 
did  so  at  great  loss,  the  company  eventually  failing  and  dissolving. 
Indian  hostilities  commenced  in  January,  1791,  with  an  attack  on 
the  blockhouse  at  Big  Bottom.  This  building  stood  on  the  first  or 
low  bottom,  a  few  rods  from  the  shore  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mus- 
kingum,  four  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Meigs'  Creek  and  thirty 
from  Marietta.  A  few  rods  back,  the  land  rose  several  feet  to  a 
second  or  higher  bottom,  which  stretched  out  into  a  plain  of  half  a 

O  i  1 

mile  in  width,  extending  to  the  foot  of  the  hills.  Big  Bottom  was 
so  called  from  its  size,  being  four  or  five  miles  in  length,  and  con- 
taining more  fine  land  than  any  other  below  Duncan's  falls.  Ex- 
cepting the  small  clearing  round  the  garrison,  the  whole  region  was 
a  forest.  This  settlement  was  made  up  of  thirty-six  young  men,  but 
little  acquainted  with  Indian  warfare  or  military  rules.  Confident  in 
their  own  prudence  and  ability  to  protect  themselves,  they  put  up  a 
blockhouse  which  might  accommodate  all  in  an  emergency,  covered 
it,  and  laid  puncheon  floors,  stairs,  &c.  It  was  built  of  large  beech 
logs,  and  rather  open,  as  it  was  not  chinked  between  the  logs  ;  this 
job  was  left  for  a  rainy  day  or  some  more  convenient  season.  They 
kept  no  sentry,  and  had  neglected  to  set  pickets  around  the  block- 
house, and  their  guns  were  lying  in  different  places,  without  order, 
about  the  house.  Twenty  men  usually  encamped  in  the  house, 
a  part  of  whom  were  now  absent,  and  each  individual  'and  mess 
cooked  for  themselves.  One  end  of  the  building  was  appropriated 
for  a  fire-place,  and  at  close  of  day  all  came  in,  built  a  large  fire, 
and  commenced  cooking  and  eating  their  suppers. 

A  party  of  Indians  came  into  a  cabin  occupied  by  a  few  of  the 
men,  near  the  blockhouse,  and  spoke  to  them  in  a  friendly  manner, 
partaking  of  their  supper.  Presently  taking  some  leathern  thongs 
and  pieces,  of  cord  that  had  been  used  in  packing  venison,  they 
seized  the  white  men  by  their  arms,  and  told  them  they  were  pri- 
soners. Another  party  attacked  the  blockhouse  so  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  that  there  was  no  time  for  defence,  shooting  down  and 


182  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

tomahawking  the  men.  One  stout  Virginia  woman,  the  wife  of 
Isaac  Meeks,  who  was  employed  as  their  hunter,  seized  an  axe  and 
made  a  blow  at  the  head  of  the  Indian  who  opened  the.  door ;  a 
slight  turn  of  the  head  saved  his  skull,  and  the  axe  passed  down 
through  his  cheek  into  the  shoulder,  leaving  a  huge  gash  that  sev- 
ered nearly  half  his  face ;  she  was  instantly  killed  by  the  tomahawk 
of  one  of  his  companions  before  she  could  repeat  the  stroke.  This 
was  all  the  injury  received  by  the  Indians,  as  the  men  were  killed 
before  they  had  time  to  seize  their  arms  which  stood  in  the  corner 
of  the  room.  While  the  slaughter  was  going  on,  a  young  man  in 
the  prime  of  life  sprung  up  the  stair-way  and  out  upon  the  roof ; 
while  his  brother,  a  lad  of  sixteen,  secreted  himself  under  some 
bedding  in  the  corner  of  the  room.  The  Indians  on  the  outside 
soon  discovered  the  former,  and.  shot  him  in  the  act  of  begging  them 
to  spare  his  life,  "  as  he  was  the  only  one  left." 

Twelve  persons  were  killed  in  this  attack.  The  savages  had 
vowed  that  before  the  trees  put  forth  leaves,  the  smoke  of  a  white  man's 
house  should  not  rise  north-west  of  the  waters  of  the  Ohio.  The 
inhabitants  assembled  at  the  three  stations  at  Marietta,  Belprie  arid 
Waterford,  new  blockhouses  were  built  at  the  expense  of  the  Ohio 
company,  and  two  hunters  were  employed  to  act  as  spies  for  each 
garrison.  Gen.  Putnam  complained  to  President  Washington  of 
the  danger  in  which  the  settlements  stood  of  being  entirely  swept 
away  without  a  reinforcement  of  troops,  and  a  military  force  was 
sent  for  their  defence  in  the  ensuing  summer. 

The  following  incident  is  illustrative :  "  On  a  day  in  March, 
Rogers  and  Henderson  sallied  out  of  the  garrison  at  an  early  hour, 
to  scout  up  the  Muskingum.  They  ranged  diligently  all  day  with- 
out seeing  any  Indians,  or  discovering  signs  of  their  being  in  the 
neighborhood.  Just  at  night,  as  they  were  returning  to  the 
garrison  by  a  cow-path,  and  had  come  within  a  mile  of  home, 
two  Indians  rose  from  behind  a  log,  fifty  yards  before  them,  and 
fired.  Rogers  was  shot  through  the  heart,  and  as  he  fell,  Hender- 
son attempted  to  support  him,  but  he  told  him  he  was  a  dead  man, 
and  he  must  provide  for  his  own  safety.  He  turned  to  escape  down  the 


INCIDENT.  183 

side  of  the  ridge,  to  the  bottom,  and  two  more  savages  who  had 
reserved  their  fire,  rose  and  discharged  their  rifles  at  him  as  he 
rah ;  one  of  the  balls  passing  through  the  collar  of  his  hunting- 
shirt,  the  other  through  the  silk  handkerchief  which  was  bound 
round  his  head,  and  formed  a  part  of  a  ranger's  dress,  barely  grazing 
the  scalp.  His  blanket,  folded  like  a  knapsack  on  his  back,  pro- 
bably saved  his  life, — shielding  the  vital  part  by  its  numerous 
folds,  from  the  passage  of  a  bullet.  The  Indians  well  knew  what  a 
protection  this  would  be,  and  therefore  aimed  at  his  head.  After 
running  a  few  hundred  yards  on  the  back  track,  he  discovered  that 
the  savages  had  taken  a  shorter  course  and  got  ahead  of  him,  and 
making  a  short  turn  to  the  right,  up  a  ravine,  he  crossed  the  ridge  and 
came  out  into  the  valley  of  Duck  Creek,  unmolested.  While  making 
this  detour,  he  fell  quite  unexpectedly  on  the  camp  of  the  savages, 
and  saw  one  busily  engaged  in  kindling  a  fire,  and  so  diligently 
occupied  that  he  did  not  observe  the  white  man.  Henderson  could 
easily  have  shot  him,  but  as  his  pursuers  had  lost  the  direction  of 
his  course,  he  thought  it  imprudent  by  firing  to  give  them  notice  of 
his  whereabouts,  and  went  on  to  the  garrison  at  the  point.  The 
alarm  gun  was  fired,  and  answered  from  Fort  ILirrner  and  Campus 
Martius.  The  story  spread  through  the  village  that  Rogers  had 
been  killed,  and  Henderson  chased  to  the  garrison  by  Indians, 
who  were  then  besieging  its  gates.  The  darkness  of  night 
added  to  the  confusion  of  the  scene.  The  order,  in  case  of  an 
alarm,  was  for  every  man  to  repair  to  his  alarm  post,  and  the 
women  and  children  to  the  blockhouses.  Some  idea  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  night  may  be  obtained  from  the  narration  of  an  eye- 
witness : 

"  4  The  first  applicant  for  admission  to  the  central  blockhouse 
was  Col.  Sproat,  with  a  box  of  papers  for  safe  keeping ;  then  came 
some  young  men  with  their  arms  ;  next,  a  woman  with  her  bed  and 
her  children ;  and  after  her,  old  William  Moukin,  from  Newbnry- 
port,  with  his  leathern  apron  full  of  old  goldsmith's  tools  and 
tobacco.  His  daughter,  Anna,  brought  the  china  tea-pot,  cups 


• 


PIONEEIt   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST, 

and  saucers.  Lydia  brought  the  great  bible  ;  but  when  all  were  in, 
'  mother'  was  missing.  Where  was  mother  ?  She  must  be  killed 
by  the  Indians.  '  No,'  says  Lydia,  i  mother  said  she  would  not 
leave  the  house  looking  so  ;  she  would  put  things  a  little  to  rights.' 
After  a  while  the  old  lady  arrived,  bringing  the  looking-glass,  knives 
and  forks,  etc.'  " 

From  the  commencement  of  the  settlement,  the  Sabbath  had 
been  kept  as  a  day  of  rest;  and  from  1789,  regular  service  was 
performed  in  the  north-west  block-house  at  Campus  Martius.  The 
military  law  required  the  regular  muster  of  troops  every  Sunday  at 
ten  o'clock.  Tfiey  were  paraded  by  beat  of  drum,  the  roll  called,- 
arms  inspected,  and  then  the  procession,  headed  by  Colonel  Sproat 
with  drawn  sword,  the  clergyman  and  the  civil  officers,  with  accom- 
paniment of  fife  and  drum,  marched  into  the  hall  appropriated  for 
divine  service.  The  arms  of  the  soldiers  were  placed  by  their  sides, 
or  in  some  convenient  place,  ready  for  use.  "  One  Sunday  morning 
in  the  latter  part  of  September,  Peter  Niswonger,  one  of  the 
rangers,  went  to  visit  a  field  he  had  planted  with  corn  and  potatoes, 
on  the  east  side  of  Duck  Creek.  He  had  some  fattened  hogs  in  a 
pen,  one  of  which  he  found  killed,  and  a  portion  of  the  meat  cut  out 
and  carried  off.  Several  hills  of  potatoes  had  been  dug,  arid  in  the 
loose  earth .  he  discovered  fresh  moccasin  tracks ;  a  proof  that 
Indians  had  done  the  mischief.  Peter  hurried  back  to  the  garrison 
at  the  point,  and  gave  the  alarm.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  morn- 
ing service,  and  the  inhabitants  were  generally  assembled  in* the 
large  block-house.  The  instant  the  words,  '  Indians  in  the  neigh- 
borhood,' were  heard,  .the  drummer  seized  'his  drum,  and  rushing 
out  at  the  door,  began  to  beat  the  long  roll ;  the  well  known  signal 
for  every  man  to  hasten  to  his  post.  The  place  of  worship,  so 
quiet  a  few  minutes  before,  was  now  a  scene  of  alarm  and  confusion. 
The  women  caught  up  their  little  children  and  hastened  home- 
ward, and  the  place  of  prayer  was  abandoned  for  that  day.  Anxiety 
for  the  fate  of  their  brothers  and  husbands,  who  had  gone  in  pursuit 
of  the  dreaded  enemy,  banished  all  thoughts  but  the  silent,  fervent 
prayer  for  their  safe  return.  A  party  was  soon  mustered  of  five  or 


ANECDOTE.  185 

six  of  the  rangers,  several  volunteer  citizens,  and  soldiers  from  the 
company  stationed  at  the  point.  The  men  went  up  in  canoes  to  the 
mouth  of  Duck  Creek,  where  they  left  their  water-c/aft.  The  more 
experienced  rangers  soon  fell  upon  the  trail,  which  they  traced  across 
wide  bottoms,  to  the  Little  Muskingum.  At  a  point  about  half  a 
mile  below  where  Conner's  mill  now  stands,  the  Indians  forded,  the 
creek ;  and  about  a  mile  eastward,  in  a  hollow  betweeij  the  hills, 
was  seen  the  smoke  of  their  camp  fire.  The  rangers  now  divided 
the  volunteers*  into  two  flanking  parties,  with  one  of  the  spies  at  the 
head  of  each ;  three  of  their  number  acting  irt  front.  By  the  time 
the  '  flankers'  had  come  within  range  of  the  camp,  the  Indians  dis- 
covered their  foes,  by  the  noise  of  soldiers  who  lagged  behind  and 
were  not  so  cautious  in  their  movements,  and  instantly  fled  up  the 
run  on  which  they  were  encamped ;  two  of  their  number  leaving 
the  main  body,  and  ascending  the  point  of  a  hill  with  a  ravine  on 
the  right  and  left.  The  rangers  now  fired,  while  the  Indians,  each 
taking  his  tree,  returned  the  shot.  One  of  the  two  savages  on  the 
s"pur  of  the  ridge  was  wounded  by  one  of  the  spies  on  the  right,  who 
pushed  on  manfully  to  gain  the  enemy's  flank.  The  men  in  front 
came  on  more  slowly,  and  as  they  began  to  ascend  the  point  of  the 
ridge,  Ned  Henderson,  who  was  posted  on  high  ground,  cried, 
*  Hence !  there  is  an  Indian  behind  that  white  oak ;  he  will  kill 
some  of  you  !'  One  of  the  white  men  instantly  sprang  behind  a 
large  tree  ;  another  behind  a  hickory  too  small  to  cover  more  than 
half  his  body,  while  the  third  jumped  into  the  ravine.  At  the 
instant  the  Indian  fired,  he  looked  over  the  edge  of  the  bank  to  see 
the  effect  of  the  shot,  and  saw  the  man  behind  the  hickory  wiping 
the  dust  of  the  bark  from  his  eyes ;  the  ball  having  grazed  the  tree 
without  doing  him  any  injury  except  cutting  his  nose  with  the 
splinters.  At  the  same  time  the  Indian  fell,  pierced  with  several 
balls." 

"  The  first  Sunday  school  was  taught  by  Mrs.  Andrew  L^ke,  a 
kind-hearted,  pious  old  lady  from  New  York,  who  had  brought  up 
a  family  of  children  herself,  and  therefore  felt  the  more  for  others  ; 
she  took  compassion  on  the  children  of  the  garrison,  who  were 


186  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST. 

spending  the  Sabbath  afternoons  in  frivolous  amusements,  and 
established  a  school  in  her  own  dwelling.  After  parson  Story's 
services  were  finished,  she  regularly  assembled  as  many  of  the 
younger  children  as  she  could  persuade  to  attend,  and  taught  them 
the  Westminster  catechism,  and  lessons  from  the  Bible,  for  about  an 
hour.  Her  scholars  amounted  to  about  twenty  in  number.  She 
was  very  kind  and  affectionate  towards  them,  so  that  they  were  fond 
of  assembling  to  listen  to  her  instructions.  Her  explanations  of 
Scripture  were  so  simple  and  childlike,  that  the  smallest  of  the  little 
ones  could  understand  them,  and  were  rendered  very  pleasant 
by  her  mild  manner  of  speaking.  The  accommodations  for  the 
children  were  very  rude  and  simple,  consisting  only  of  a  few  low 
stools  and  benches,  such  a  thing  as  a  chair  being  unknown  in  the 
garrison.  One  of  her  scholars,  then  a  little  boy  of  four  years  old, 
who  gave  me  a  sketch  of  the  school,  says — for  lack  of  a  seat 
he  was  one  day  placed  by  the  kind  old  lady  on  the  top  of  a  bag  of 
meal,  that  stood  leaning  against  the  side  of  the  room.  The  seed 
thus  charitably  sown  in  faith  and  hope,  was  not  scattered  in  vain ; 
as  several  of  her  scholars  became  prominent  members  of  the 
church." 

The  offer  of  lands  for  military  service  brought  new  emigrants  from 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  and  the  firmness  and  wisdom  of 
directors  and  agents,  backed  by  the  counsel  of  old  Revolutionary 
officers,  preserved  the  settlement  in  the  midst  of  formidable  dangers. 
Among  other  inconveniences  brought  by  war,  the  mills  were  stopped, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  grind  the  corn  in  hand-mills,  though  flour 
might  still  be  procured  at  "  head-waters." 

There  were  but  two  hand-mills  in  the  garrison,  and  a  large  coffee- 
mill,  which  had  once  belonged  to  a  ship  of  war.  The  hopper  held  a 
peck  of  corn,  and  it  was  in  great  demand.  After  this  imperfect 
grinding,  the  finest  of  the  meal  was  separated  with  a  sieve  for  bread, 
and  the  coarse  boiled  with  a  piece  of  venison  or  bear's  meat,  making 
a  rich  and  nourishing  diet,  well  suited  to  the  tastes  of  the  hungry 
pioneers. 

One  instance  of  strict  honor,  in   the   midst  of  privation,  is  men- 


PRIVATIONS.  187 

tloned  of  the  wife  of  an  officer  in  the  United  States'  service,  and  one 
of  the  most  worthy  men  in  the  colony.  During  the  period  of  the 
greatest  distress,  the  mother  had  consented  to  cook  for.  a  young 
man  uho  owned  a  lot  adjoining  hers,  and  ate  his  meals  at  his  own 
cabin.  While  the  bread,  which  was  made  of  musty  meal,  was 
baking,  she  always  sent  her  children  out  to  play,  and  when  baked, 
locked  it  immediately  in  the  owner's  chest,  lest  they  should  see  it, 
and  ciy  for  a  piece  of  what  she  had  no  right  to  give  them.  When 
a  few  kernels  of  corn  chanced  to  be  -dropped  in  grinding,  the 
children  would  pick  them  up  like  chickens,  and  eat  them.  A  few 
of  the  inhabitants  had  cows,  for  which,  in  summer,  the  forest 
afforded  ample  provender.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  winter,  the  sap 
of  the  sugar  maple,  boiled  down  with  meal,  made  a  rich  and 
nutritious  food ;  and  the  tree  was  so  abundant,  that  as  large  quanti- 
ties of  sugar  were  made  as  the  number  of  kettles  in  the  settlement 
would  permit.  By  the  .middle  of  July,  the  new  corn  was  in 
the  milk,  and  fit  for  roasting ;  and  this,  with  squashes,  beans,  etc., 
put  an  end  to  fears  of  actual  starvation.  So  urgent  was  the  neces- 
sity, that  these  different  vegetables,  before  they  were  fully  formed, 
were  gathered  and  boiled  together,  with  a  little  meal,  into  a  kind  of 
soup  much  relished.  It  was  even  said  that  the  dogs  would  get  at 
and  devour  the  young  corn. 

Under  these  discouraging  circumstances,  the  inhabitants  contri- 
buted all  the  money  they  could  raise,  and  sent  two  active  young 
men  bv  land  to  "  Red  Stone,"  to  procure  supplies  of  salt  meat  and  a 
few  barrels  of  flour.  It  was  a  hazardous  journey,  on  account  of  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather — it  being  early  in  December — and  dan- 
ger from  the  Indians,  who  since  St.  Glair's  defeat  were  more  active 
in  harassing  the  settlements.  The  young  men,  however,  reached 
head  waters,  and  made  the  necessary  purchases,  which  they  were 
about  sending  down  the  river  when  it  was  suddenly  closed  by  ice. 
Nothing,  meanwhile,  was  heard  of  them  at  home,  and  the  winter 
wore  away  in  uncertainty,  some-supposing  the  messengers  had  gone 
off  with  the  money,  and  others  that  they  had  been  killed  by  the 
savages.  The  ice  broke  up  the  last*  of  February  with  a  flood  that 


188  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

inundated  the  ground  on  which  the  garrison  was  built,  and  early  in 
March  the  young  men  arrived  with  a  small  Kentucky  boat  loaded 
with  supplies,  and  entering  the  garrison  by  the  upper  gate,  moored 
their  ark  at  the  door  of  the  commandant,  to  the  great  relief  and  joy 
of  the  inhabitants. 

The  expedition  of  Gen.  Harrnar  having  failed  of  its  object,  the 
north-west  territory  was  stilj,  a  battle-ground  for  confederate  tribes 
from  Lakes  Erie  and  Michigan,  from  the  Illinois,  the  Wabash,  and 
the  Mi  amis.  The  famous  chief,  Little  Turtle,  was  at  their  head. 
This  failure  having  made  a  deep  impression,  there  was  a  demand 
for  a  greater  force  under  the  command  of.  a  more  experienced  gene- 
ral ;  and  Arthur  St.  Clair  was  selected  as  most  capable  of  restoring 
American  affairs  in  the  north-west  His  army  was  assembled  at 
Cincinnati  with  the  object  of  destroying  the  Miami  towns.  Gen,  St. 
Glair's  defeat  on  a  branch  of  the  Wabash,  November  4th,  1791,  was 
one  of  the  heaviest  disasters  in  the  annals  of  savage  warfare.  Its 
effect  was  to  expose  the  whole  range  of  frontier  settlements  on  the 
Ohio,  to  the  fury  of  the  Indians,  and  spread  so  much  alarm  among 
the  inhabitants,  that  many  talked  of  leaving  the  country.  Their 
final  determination,  however,  was  to  stay  and  defend  their  property, 
and  the  ensuing  winter,  in  spite  of  disasters,  brought  fresh  arrivals 
of  colonists.  During  the  continuance  of  the  war,  the  men  were 
obliged  to  work  their  fields  with  arms  in  their  hands  ;  parties  of 
fifteen  or  twenty  laboring,  while  three  or  four  were  posted  as  sentries 
in  the  edge  of  the  woods  or*  enclosure.  Thus  food  for  their  families 
was  obtained  at  the  risk  of  the  rifle  or  the  tomahawk. 

The  year  1791  was  more  fruitful  of  tragic  events  in  the  vicinity 
of  Marietta  than  any  other.  After  that  time  the  Indians  were  occu- 
pied in  defending  their  own  borders,  or  their  villages,  against  Ameri- 
can troops,  and  had  little  time  for  hostile  incursions.  The  expenses 
in  which  the  war  had  involved  the  Ohio  Company,  caused  the  fail- 
ure of  payment  for  the  lands  ;  petitions  were  presented  to  Congress 
for  donation  lots,  and  those  emigrants  who  came  after  the  termina- 
tion of  Indian  hostilities  obtained  better  lands,  on  more  favorable 


WOODS    IN   SPEING.  189 

terms,  than  those  who  had  undergone  all  the  privations,  labors,  and 
sufferings  which  preceded  the  privileged  season. 

"The  winter  of  1791-2,"  says  Spencer  in  his  narrative,  "  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  early  and  delightful  spring;  indeed,  I  have  often 
thought  that  our  first  western  winters  were  much  milder,  our  springs 
earlier,  and  our  autumns  longer  than  they  now  are.  On  the  last  of 
February,  some  of  the  trees  were  putting  forth  their  foliage  ;  in 
March,  the  red-bud,  the  hawthorn  and  the  dog-wood  in  full  bloom 
checkered  the  hills,  displaying  their  beautiful  colors  of  rose  and  lily  ; 
and  in  April  the  ground  was  covered  with  the  May  apple,  blood  root, 
ginseng,  violets>  and  a  great  variety  of  herbs  and  flowers.  Flocks  of 
parroque'ts  were  seen,  decked  in  their  rich  plumage  of  green  and 
gold.  Birds  of  every  species  and  of  e.very  hue,  were  flitting  from 
tree  to  tree;  and  the  beautiful  redbird,  and  the  untaught  songster  of 
the  west,  made  the  woods  vocal  with  their  melody.  Now  might  be 
heard  the  plaintive  wail  of  the  dove,  and  now  the  rumbling  drum  of 
the  partridge,  or  the  loud  gobble  of  the  turkey.  Here  .might  be 
seen  the  clumsy  bear,  doggedly  moving  off,  or  urged  by  pursuit 
into  a  laboring  gallop,  retreating  to  his  citadel  in  the  top  of  some 
lofty  tree;  or — approached  suddenly — raising  himself  erect  in  the 
attitude  of  defence,  facing  his  enemy  and  waiting  his  approach ; 
there  the  timid  deer,  watchfully  resting,  or  cautiously  feeding,  or 
aroused  from  his  thicket,  gracefully  bounding  off,  then  stopping, 
erecting  his  stately  head  and  for  a  moment  gazing  around,  or  snuff- 
ing the  air  to  ascertain  his  enemy,  instantly  springing  off,  clearing 
logs  and  bushes  at  a  bound,  and  soon  distancing  his  pursuers.  Tt 
seemed  an  earthly  paradise ;  and  but  for  apprehension  of  the  wily 
copperhead,  who  lay  silently  coiled  among  the  leaves,  or  beneath 
the  plants,  waiting  to  strike  his  victim  ;  the  horrid  rattlesnake,  who 
more  chivalrous,  however,  with  head  erect  amidst  its  ample  folds, 
prepared  to  dart  upon  his  foe,  generously  with  the  loud  noise  of  his 
rattle  apprised  him  of  danger  ;  and  the  still  more  fearful  and  insi- 
dious savage,  who,  crawling  upon  the  ground,  or  noiselessly  approach- 
ing behind  trees  and  thickets,  sped  the  deadly  shaft  or  fatal  bullet, 


190  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

you  might  have  fancied  you  were  in  the  confines  of  Eden  or  the 
borders  of  Elysium." 

The  author  of  "  Miami  County  Traditions,"  says  :  "  The  country 
all  around  the  settlement  presented  the  most  lovely  appearance ;  the 
earth  was  like  an  ash-heap,  and  nothing  could  exceed  the  luxuriance 
of  primitive  vegetation  ;  indeed,  our  cattle  often  died  from  excess  of 
feeding,  and  it  was  somewhat  difficult  to  rear  them  on  that  account. 
The  white-weed,  or  bee-harvest,  as  it  is  called,  so  profusely  spread 
over  our  bottom  and  woodlands,  was  not  then  seen  among  us  ;  the 
sweet  annis,  nettles,  wild  rye,  and  pea-vine,  now  so  scarce,  every 
where  abounded  ;  they  were  almost  the  entire  herbage  of  our  bot- 
toms ;  the  two  last  gave  subsistence  to  our  cattle,  and  the  first,  with 
our  nutritious  roots,  were  eaten  by  our  swine  with  the  greatest 
avidity.  In  the  spring  and  summer  months,  a  drove  of  hogs  could 
be  scented  at  a  considerable  distance,  from  their  flavor  cf  the  annis 
root." 

When  Gen.  Putnam  had  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  on 
the  Wabash,  fourteen  of  the  chiefs  came  to  Marietta,  November  17th, 
1792,  under  the  escort  of  American  officers.  The  next  day  a  public 
dinner  was  given  to  them  at  Campus  Martius,  to  which  the  officers 
of  the  garrison  and  the  citizens  of  Marietta  were  invited.  The  pro- 
cession was  formed  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio,  where  the  boat  landed, 
and  the  chiefs  were  conducted,  with  martial  music,  to  the  north-east 
gate  of  the  garrison,  a  salute  of  fourteen  guns  being  fired  as  soon  as 
the  head  of  the  column  appeared  in  sight.  The  procession  then 
moved  through  the  gate  to  the  dining  hall,  a  room* twenty-four  by 
forty  feet  large,  in  the  hall  of  the  north-west  block-house,  where  the 
feast  provided  had  been  arranged  by  the  ladies  of  the  garrison.  An 
eye-witness  says :  "  The  entertainment  was  very  novel,  and  the 
scene  peculiar  and  striking.  Shut  up  in  the  garrison,  and  at  war 
with  the  other  tribes  of  the  forest,  shaking  hands  with  our  red 
guests,  and  passing  from  one  to  another  the  appellation  of  brother  ! 
It  seemed  to  renew  the  scenes  of  the  first  year's  settlement,  and 
make  us  almost  forget  war  was  upon  our  border." 

After  the  banquet  and  ceremonies  were  concluded,  the  chiefs  were 


SALLY    WAKTH.  191 

again  conducted  to  their  boats.  The  next  day  they  were  invited  by 
several  gentlemen  of  the  stockade  garrison  at  the  point,  to  smoke 
the  pipe  of  friendship ;  after  which  they  proceeded  on  their  journey. 
Another  of  the  female  pioneers  whose  name  tradition  has  pre- 
served, is  Sally  Fleehart,  who  became  the  wife  of  John  Warth,  a 
noted  hunter  and  ranger,  and  lived  in  one  of  the  barracks.  Warth 
learned  to  read  and  write  in  the  intervals  of  his  ranging  tours,  and 
after  the  peace  settled  in  Virginia,  and  served  as  a  magistrate, 
becoming  a  wealthy  planter  and  owning  a  number  of  slaves.  His 
success  was  attributable  to  the  education  given  him  by  his  wife,  who 
had  been  brought  up  on  the  frontier,  and  possessed  not  only 
unusual  intellectual  cultivation  for  that  class,  but  all  the  intrepidity 
and  activity  common  to  women  at  that  day,  in  a  remarkable  degree. 
She  could  fire  a  rifle  with  great  accuracy,  and  bring  down  a  bird  on 
the  wing,  or  a  squirrel  from  the  tree,  as  readily  as  could  the  practised 
arm  of  her  husband. 

The  women  resident  in  the  forts  had  but  little  respite  from  anxiety 
and  dread,  except  in  the  depths  of  winter,  when  the  Indians  rarely 
committed  depredations,  or  lay  in  watch  about  the  settlements.    As 
soon,  however,  as  the  wild  geese,  seen  in  flocks  steering  their  course 
northward,  or  the  frogs  piping:  in  the  swamp,  gave  token  of  the  ap- 
proach of  the  more  genial  season,  the  return  of  the  savage  foe  might 
be  expected.     Thus  the  more  timid  part  of  the  community,  and*the 
elder  females  never  Welcomed  the  coming  of  spring  with  the  hilarity 
it  generally  awakens,  preferring  the  "  melancholy  days"  of  gloom 
and  tempest,  when  they  and  their  children  were  comparatively'safe ; 
regarding  the  budding  of  trees  and  opening  of  wild  flowers  with  sad 
forebodings,  and  listening  to  the  song  of  birds  as  a  prelude  to  the 
warcry  of  the  relentless  savage.     The  barking  of  the  faithful  watch- 
dog at  night  was  another  cause  of  terror,  associated  as  it  was  with 
visions  of  the  Indian  lurking  in  his  covert ;  and  it  was  seldom  heard 
by  the  timid  mother  without  raising  her  head  from  the  pillow  to 
listen  anxiously  for  the  sound  of  the  distant   warwhoop,   or   the 
report  of  the  sentry's  rifle;  to  sink  again  into  uneasy  slumber,  and 
dream  of  some  wild  deed  or  fearful  occurrence.    Some  amusing  inci- 


192  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE  WEST. 

dents  are  related  of  the  alarm  created  in  a  garrison  by  the  sudden 
outcry  of  persons  who  were  dreaming  of  Indian  assault.  This  part 
of  the  suffering  peculiar  to  those  times,  can  hardly  be  imagined  in 
our  days  of  peace  and  security. 

One  instance  of  the  confusion  created  by  a  false  alarm  may  be 
given  : — "  One  dark  and  rainy  night  in  June,  while  John  Wint,  a 
youth  of  eighteen,  was  on  the  watch  in  the  tower  of  the  middle 
blockhouse,  he  saw  by  a  flash  of  lightning  a  darklooking  object 
climbing  over  a  log,  which  lay  about  fifty  yards  from  the  fort.  A 
report  had  been  previously  circulated  of  Indians  being  seen  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  this  appeared  about  the  height  of  a  man.  At 
the  next  flash  John  hailed  and  fired  the  same  instant.  All  remained 
quiet  outside ;  but  the  report  awakened  every  body  within  the  gar- 
rison, and  me£u€£ime  running  from  all  quarters  in  great  alarm, 
thinking  the  savages  were  already  upon  them,  for  no  sentinel  ever 
fired  without  good  cause.  The  women  came  hurrying  along  with 
their  screaming  children,  and  the  soldiers  with  their  guns  ready  for 
service.  In  the  midst  of  the  tumult,  Col.  Sproat  was  soon  on  the 
ground,  and  questioned  the  sentinel  closely  as  to  what  he  had  seen 
or  heard.  John  was  rather-  confused  at  the  disturbance  he  had 
raised  without  being  able  to  state  some  more  definite  cause  than  the 
dark  body  bearing  resemblance  to  a  man,  which  he  had  seen 
standing  on  a  log.  He  said  he  had  fired  at  a  white  spot  he  saw 
above  its  head  by  the  flash  of  lightning,  and  there  were  many  sur- 
mises as  to  what  it  could  be ;  some  thinking  it  must  be  an  Indian, 
others  protesting  John  had  fired  at  nothing  to  see  the  fun  of  a  night 
alarm,  as  he  was  known  .to  be  fond  of  a  little  harmless  sport.  No 
further  signs  of  the  enemy  were  discovered,  as  no  one  would  venture 
out  in  the  dark  to  reconnoitre  for  savages.  In  the  morning,  after  the 
gates  were  opened,  a  party  went  to  the  log  pointed  out  by  John, 
and  found  a  large  black  dog,  which  belonged  to  one  of  the  soldiers, 
with  a  rifle  shot  through  the  centre  of  a  white  spot  in  his  forehead." 
The  accuracy  of  the  shot  attested  the  sentry's  excellence  as  a  marks- 
man, though  much  useless  anxiety  had  been  excited  by  his  mistake. 

This  is  a  brief  notice  of  the  earliest  settlement  in  Ohio,  the  germ 


JANE   DICK — MARY   HECKEWELDER.  193 

whence  has  sprung  a  great  and  powerful  State.  The  termination  of 
the  Indian  war,  brought  about  by  the  victorious  campaign  of  Gen. 
Anthony  Wayne,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  at  Greenville  in 
1795,  restored  peace  to  the  harassed  settlements;  mills  were  erected, 
roads  opened,  and  the  inhabitants  who  had  so  long  been  immured 
within  the  walls  of  forts,  went  forth  to  till  their  grounds  and  clear 
away  the  forest  unembarrassed  by  the  dread  of  a  lurking  enemy. 

Brickell,  in  his  narrative  of  captivity  among  the  Indians,  relates  a 
curious  anecdote  of  the  escape  of  Mrs.  Jane  Dick.  "  Her  husband 
had  concerted  a  plan  with  the  captain  of  the  vessel  which  brought 
the  presents,  to  steal  her  from  the  Indians.  The  captain  concerted 
a  plan  with  a  black  man  who  cooked  for  McKee  and  Elliot,  to  steal 
Mrs.  Dick.  The  black  man  arranged  it  with  Mrs.  Dick  to  meet  him 
at  midnight  in  a  copse  of  underwood,  which  she  did,  and  he  took 
her  on  board  in  a  small  canoe,  and  headed  her  up  in  an  empty  hogs- 
head, where  she  remained  till  the  day  after  the  vessel  sailed,  about 
thirty-six  hours.  I  remember  well  that  every  camp  and  the  woods 
were  searched  for  her,  and  that  the  vessel  was  searched ;  for  tho 
Indians  immediately  suspected  that  she  was  on  board,  but  not  think- 
ing of  unheading  hogsheads,  they  could  not  find  her."  This  hap- 
pened the  summer  before  Wayne's  campaign. 


MARY  HECKEWELDER,  the  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Heckewelder, 
whose  early  labors  as  a  Moravian  missionary  among  the  Indians  are 
well  known,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  white  child  born  in  Ohio. 
The  following  sketch  was  sent  by  her  to  the  editor  of  the  American 
Pioneer:  "I  was  born  April  16th,  1781,  in  Salem,  one  of  the 
Moravian  Indian  towns  on  the  Muskingum  river,  Ohio.  Soon 
after  my  birth,  times  becoming  very  troublesome,  the  settlements 
were  often  in  danger  from  war  parties,  and  from  an  encampment  of 
warriors  near  Gnadenhutten  ;  and  finally,  in  the  beginning  of  Sep- 
tember of  the  same  year,  we  were  all  made  prisoners.  First,  four 
of  the  missionaries  were  seized  by  a  party  of  Huron  warriors,  and 
9 


194:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

declared  prisoners  of  war  ;  they  were  then  led  into  the  camp  of  the 
Delawares,  where  the  death-song  was  sung  over  them.  Soon  after 
they  had  secured  them,  a  number  of  warriors  marched  off  for  Salem 
and  Schonbrunn.  About  thirty  savages  arrived  at  the  former  place 
in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  and  broke  open  the  mission-house.  Here 
they  took  my  mother  and  myself  prisoners,  and  having  led  her  into 
the  street  and  placed  guards  over  her,  they  plundered  the  house  of 
everything  they  could  take  with  them  and  destroyed  what  was  left, 
Then  going  to  take  my  mother  along  with  them,  the  savages  were 
prevailed  upon,  through  the  intercession  of  the  Indian  females,  to  let 
her  remain  at  Salem  till  the  next  morning — the  night  being  dark 
and  rainy,  and  almost  impossible  for  her  to  travel  so  far.  They 
consented  on  condition  that  she  should  be  brought  into  the  camp 
the  next  morning,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  she  was  safely 
conducted  by  our  Indians  to  Gnadenhutten. 

"After  experiencing  the  cruel  treatment  of  the  savages  for  some  time, 
they  were  set  at  liberty  again  ;  but  were  obliged  to  leave  their  flour- 
ishing settlements  and  forced  to  march  through  a  dreary  wilderness 
to  Upper  Sandusky.  We  went  by  land  through  Goshachguenk  to 
the  Walholding,  and  then  partly  by  water  and  partly  along  the 
banks  of  the  river,  to  Sandusky  creek.  All  the  way  I  was  carried 
by  an  Indian  woman,  carefully  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  on  her  back. 
Our  journey  was  exceedingly  tedious  and  dangerous ;  some  of  the 
canoes  sunk,  and  those  that  were  in  them  lost  all  their  provisions  and 
everything  they  had  saved.  Those  that  went  by  land  drove  the 
cattle,  a  pretty  large  herd.  The  savages  now  drove  us  along,  the 
missionaries  with  their  families  usually  in.  the  midst,  surrounded  by 
their  Indian  converts.  The  roads  were  exceedingly  bad,  leading 
through  a  continuation  of  swamps. 

"  Having  arrived  at  Upper  Sandusky,  they  built  small  huts  of  logs 
and  bark  to  screen  them  from  the  cold,  having  neither  beds  nor 
blankets,  and  being  reduced  to  the  greatest  poverty  and  want ;  for 
the  savages  had  by  degrees  stolen  almost  everything  both  from  the 
missionaries  and  Indians  on  the  journey.  We  lived  here  extremely 
poor,  often  having  very  little  or  nothing  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hun- 


MARY    HECKEWELDEK.  195 

ger ;  and  the  poorest  of  the  Indians  were  obliged  to  live  upon  their 
dead  cattle,  which  died  for  want  of  pasture. 

"  After  living  in  this  dreary  wilderness,  in  danger,  poverty,  and  dis- 
tress of  all  sorts,  a  written  order  arrived  in  March,  1782,  sent  by  the 
governor  to  the  half-king  of  the  Hurons  and  to  an  English  officer  in 
his  company,  to  bring  all  the  missionaries  and  their  families  to  De- 
troit, but  with  a  strict  order  not  to  plunder  nor  abuse  them  in  the 
least.  The  missionaries  were  overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the  idea  of 
being  separated  from  their  Indians ;  but  there  being  no  alternative, 
they  were  obliged  to  submit  to  this,  one  of  the  heaviest  of  their  trials. 
The  poor  Indians  came  weeping  to  bid  them  farewell,  and  accompa- 
nied them  a  considerable  way,  some  as  far  as  Lower  Sandusky.  Here 
we  were  obliged  to  spend  several  nights  in  the  open  air,  and  suffered 
great  cold  besides  other  hardships.  April  14th,  we  set  out  and 
crossed  over  a  part  of  the  lake,  and  arrived  at  Detroit  by  the  straits 
which  join  Lakes  Erie  and  Huron.  We  were  lodged  in  the  bar- 
racks by  order  of  the  governor.  Some  weeks  after,  we  left  the  bar- 
racks with  his  consent  and  moved  into  a  house  at  a  small  distance 
from  the  town. 

"  The  Indian  converts  gathering  around  their  teachers,  they  resolved, 
with  the  consent  of  the  governor,  to  begin  the  building  of  a  new 
settlement  upon  a  spot  about  thirty  miles  from  Detroit,  on  the  river 
Huron,  which  they  called  New  Gnadenhutten,  and  which  increased 
considerably  from  time  to  time.  Here  I  lived  till  the  year  1785, 
when  I  set  out  with  an  aged  missionary  couple  to  be  educated  in  the 
school  at  Bethlehem." 

The  murder  of  the  Moravian  Indians  was  one  of  the  most  atro- 
cious transactions  in  the  history  of  the  West.  They  consisted 
chiefly  of  Delawares,  with  a  few  Mohicans  ;  had  been  converted  to 
Christianity  through  the  zeal  and  influence  of  Moravian  missionaries, 
and  had  lived  ten  years  quietly  in  their  villages  of  Gnadenhutten, 
Schonbrunn,  Salem,  and  Lichtenau.  Although  in  friendship  with 
the  whites,  they  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  the  border  settlers,  who 
suspected  them  of  aiding  and  abetting  the  hostile  savages  ;  an 
expedition  against  them  was  undertaken  in  March,  1782,  after  some 


196  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

Indian  incursions,  by  a  party  of  men  chiefly  from  the  Monongahela, 
led  by  Col.  David  Williamson  ;  they  were  induced  by  assurances 
of  good-will,  to  assemble  at  Guadenhutten,  and  there  were  delibe- 
rately massacred  in  cold  blood.  It  is  said  that  the  number  of  killed 
was  ninety-six,  including  women  and  children.  Two  only  of  the 
devoted  Indians  made  their  escape. 


"  RUHAMA  GREENE  was  born  and  raised  in  Jefferson  County,  Vir- 
ginia. In  1785,  she  married  Charles  Builderback,  and  with  him 
crossed  the  mountains  and  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Short  Creek,  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Ohio,  a  few  miles  above  Wheeling.  Her 
husband,  a  brave  man,  had  on  many  occasions  distinguished  himself 
in  repelling  the  Indians,  who  had  often  felt  the  aim  of  his  unerring 
rifle.  They  therefore  determined  at  all  hazards  to  kill, him. 

"On  a  beautiful  summer  morning  in  June,  1789,  at  a  time  when 
it  was  thought  the  enemy  had  abandoned  the  western  shores  of  the 
Ohio,  Capt.  Charles  Builderback,  his  wife  and  brother,  Jacob  Builder- 
back,  crossed  the  Ohio  to  look  after  some  cattle.  On  reaching  the 
shore,  a  party  of  fifteen  or  twenty  Indians  rushed  out  from  an 
ambush,  and  firing  upon  them,  wounded  Jacob  in  the  shoulder. 
Charles  was  taken  while  he  was  running  to  escape.  Jacob  returned 
to  the  canoe  and  got  away.  In  the  mean  time,  Mrs.  Builderback 
secreted  herself  in  some  drift-wood,  near  the  bank  of  the  river.  As 
soon  as  the  Indians  had  secured  and  tied  her  husband,  not  being 
able  to  discover  her  hiding-place,  they  compelled  him,  with  threats  of 
immediate  death,  to  call  her  to  him.  With  a  hope  of  appeasing 
their  fury,  he  did  so.  She  heard  him,  but  made  no  answer.  Here, 
to  use  her  words, — '  a  struggle  took  place  in  my  breast,  which  I 
cannot  describe.  Shall  I  go  to  him  and  become  a  prisoner,  or  shall 
I  remain,  return  to  our  cabin  and  provide  for  and  take  care  of  our 
two  children  ?'  He  shouted  to  her  a  second  time  to  come  to  him, 
Baying,  that  if  she  obeyed,  perhaps  it  would  be  the  means  of  saving 
his  life.  She  no  longer  hesitated,  but  left  her  place  of  safety,  and 


KUHAkA   GREENE.  197 

surrendered  herself  to  his  savage  captors.  All  this  took  place  in  full 
view  of  their  cabin,  on  the  opposite  shore,  where  they  had  left 
their  two  children,  one  a  son  about  three  years  of  age,  and  an  infant 
daughter.  The  Indians,  knowing  that  they  would  be  pursued  as  soon 
as  the  news  of  their  visit  reached  the  stockade  at  Wheeling,  commenced 
their  retreat*  Mrs.  Builderback  and  her  husband  travelled  together 
that  day  and  the  following  night.  The  next  morning,  the  Indians 
separated  into  two  bands,. one  taking  Builderback,  and  the  other  his 
wife,  and  continued  a  westward  course  by  different  routes. 

"  In  a  few  days,  the  band  having  Mrs.  Builderback  in  custody, 
reached  the  Tuscarawas  river,  where  they  encamped,  and  were  soon 
rejoined  by  the  band  that  had  her  husband  in  charge.  Here  the 
murderers  exhibited  his  scalp  on  the  top  of  a  pole,  and  to  convince 
her  that  they  had  killed  him,  pulled  it  down  and  threw  it  into  her 
lap.  She  recognised  it  at  once  by  the  redness  of  his  hair.  She  said 
notliing,  and  uttered  no  complaint.  It  was  evening ;  her  ears 
pained  with  the  terrific  yells  of  the  savages,  and  wearied  by  constant 
travelling,  she  reclined  against  a  tree  and  fell  into  a  profound  sleep, 
and  forgot  all  her  sufferings,  until  morning.  When  she  awoke,  the 
scalp  of  her  murdered  husband  was  gone,  and  she  never  learned  what 
became  of  it.* 

"  As  soon  as  the  capture  of  Builderback  was  known  at  Wheeling, 
a  party  of  scouts  set  off  in  pursuit,  and  taking  the  trail  of  one  of  the 
bands,  followed  it  until  they  found  the  body  of  Builderback.  He 
had  been  tomahawked  and  scalped,  arid  apparently  suffered  a  linger- 
ing death. 

*  Her  husband  commanded  a  company  at  Crawford's  defeat.  He  was  a 
large,  noble  looking  man,  and  a  bold  and  intrepid  warrior.  He  was  in  the 
bloody  Moravian  campaign,  and  took  his  share  in  the  tragedy,  by  shedding 
the  first  blood  on  that  occasion,  when  he  shot,  tomahawked  and  scalped 
Shebosh,  a  Moravian  chief.  But  retributive  justice  was  meted  to  him. 
After  being  taken  prisoner,  the  Indians  inquired  his  name.  ''Charles 
Builderback,"  replied  he,  after  some  little  pause.  At  this  jevelation,  the 
Indians  stared  at  each  other  with  malignant  triumph.  u  Ha!"  said  they, 
"  you  kill  many  Indians— you  big  captain— you  kill  Moravians."  From  that 
moment,  probably,  his  death  was  decreed. 


19S  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

"  The  Indians,  on  reaching  their  towns  on  the  Big  Miami,  adopted 
Mrs.  Builderback  into  a  family,  with  whom  she  resided  until  released 
from  captivity.  She  remained  a  prisoner  about  nine  months,  per- 
forming the  labor  and  drudgery  of  squaws,  such  as  carrying  in  meat 
from  the  hunting  grounds,  preparing  and  drying  it,  making  moccasins, 
leggins  and  other  clothing  for  the  family  in  which  she  lived. 
After  her  adoption  she  suffered  much  from  the  rough  and  filthy 
manner  of  Indian  living,  but  had  no  cause  to  complain  of  ill-treat- 
ment otherwise. 

"  In  a  few  months  after  her  capture,  some  friendly  Indians 
informed  the  commandant  at  Fort  Washington,  that  there  was  a 
white  woman  in  captivity  at  the  Miami  towns.  She  was  ransomed 
and  brought  into  the  fort,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was  sent  up  the  river 
to  her  lonely  cabin,  and  the  embrace  of  her  two  orphan  children. 
She  then  recrossed  the  mountains,  and  settled  in  her  native  county. 

"In  1791,  Mrs.  Builderback  married  Mr.  John  Greene,  and  in 
1798,  they  emigrated  to  the  Hockhocking  valley,  and  settled  about 
three  miles  west  of  Lancaster,  where  she  continued  to  reside  until 
the  time  of  her  death,  about  the  year  1842.  She  survived  her  last 
husband  about  ten  years."* 

#  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio. 


XL 

REBECCA   ROUSE. 

AMONG  other  families  who  ventured  on  the  long  and  perilous 
journey  from  the  granite  soil  of  New  England,  in  the  year  1788,  a 
year  never  to  be  forgotten  in  the  annals  of  Ohio,  were  those  of  John 
Rouse  and  Jonathan  Devoll.  Before  the  period  of  the  Revolution, 
Mr.  Rouse  had  followed  the  vocation  of  a  whaleman  and  seaman, 
from  the  port  of  New  Bedford,  and  was  now  living  on  a  small  farm 
in  the  town  of  Rochester,  Massachusetts,  near  the  little  harbor  of 
Mattepoisett.  His  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and  eight  children. 
Capt.  Jonathan  Haskell,  who  also  lived  in  Rochester,  and  had  been 
an  officer  in  the  war,  joined  him  in  fitting  out  the  expedition,  and 
furnished  a  large  covered  wagon  and  two  of  the  horses,  Mr. 
Rouse  furnishing  the  other  two.  An  active  young  man,  named 
Gushing,  who  wished  to  settle  in  the  west,  was  employed  to  drive 
the  wagon.  As  the  journey  was  a  long  one,  they  took  as  few  arti- 
cles of  beds,  bedding,  and  cooking  utensils,  as  they  could  possibly 
do  with  on  the  road.  Tlieir  clothing  and  other  goods  were  packed 
in  trunks  and  large  wooden  boxes  made  to  fit  the  inside  of  the 
wagon. 

The  parting  from  their  old  neighbors  at  Mattepoisett,  was  one  of 
much  tenderness,  accompanied  by  many  hearty  adieus  and  sincere 
prayers  for  their  welfare  on  the  journey,  and  their  happiness  in  that 


200  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

far  away  region.  No  one,  at  this  day,  can  imagine  with  what  dread 
and  awe  a  journey  to  the  new  territory  west  of  the  Ohio,  was  then 
viewed  by  the  simple-hearted  people  of  New  England.  A  party  of 
young  ladies,  on  horseback,  accompanied  the  females  as  far  as  "  The 
Long-plain,"  distant  six  miles.  Here  they  tarried  for  about  a  week 
amongst  their  kinsfolk  and  former  neighbors ;  for  at  this  place 
Rouse  had  lived  many  years,  and  here  most  of  the  children  had  been 
born. 

The  morning  they  left  Mattepoisett,  an  interesting  occurrence  took 
place  which  shows  the  strong  attachment  of  the  female  heart  to 
home  and  relatives.  A  rich  old  farmer  of  that  place,  who  had  taken 
a  great  liking  to  Bathsheba,  the  eldest  daughter,  and  was  anxious 
that  his  son  should  obtain  her  for  a  wife,  offered  to  give  her  by  deed 
a  nice  farm  and  good  dwelling-house,  if  she  would  stay  amongst 
them  and  not  go  with  the  family  to  the  West.  But  her  affection 
for  her  parents,  sistersr  and  brothers  was  too  great  to  forego  the  pleas- 
ure of  their  society  probably  for  the  rest  of  her  life,  and  the  offer 
was  declined,  much  to  the  sorrow  of  the  generous  old  man.  The 
week  flew  rapidly  away  in  social  intercourse  with  their  kindred,  and 
solemn  and  sorrowful  were  the  greetings  of  the  farewell  hour.  The 
distance  was  so  great,  and  the  dangers  of  the  wilderness  so  many, 
that  they  all  thought  the  parting  was  to  be  final  as  to  this  world  ; 
and  so  indeed  it  proved  to  the  larger  portion  of  them.  Capt.  Has- 
kell  joined  them  that  morning  from  Rochester,  and  early  in  October, 
1788,  they  took  their  departure  from  "The  Long-plain,"  and  com- 
menced their  arduous  journey  to  Muskingurn,  as  the  new  settlement 
was  then  called.  They  reached  Providence  the  second  day,  at  even- 
ing— at  which  place  they  were  joined  by  the  family  of  Jonathan 
Devoll,  composed  of  Mrs.  Devoll  and  five  children.  Mrs.  Nancy 
Devoll  was  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Rouse.  He'f  husband  had  been  absent 
nearly  a  year,  attached  to  the  party  of  pioneers  sent  by  the  Ohio 
company  the  autumn  previous.  He  was  the  naval  architect  of  the 
"  May-flower,"  which  conveyed  the  first  detachment  of  men  from 
Simrel's  Ferry,  on  the  Yohiogany,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum, 
and  one  of  the  first  who  landed  the  *7th  of  April,  1788,  on  the  soil 


REBECCA   ROUSE.  201 

of  the  present  State  of  Ohio.  Their  large  covered  wagon,  with  four 
horses,  was  fitted  up  in  a  similar  style  to  the  other,  and  was  driven 
by  Isaac  Barker,  an  only  brother  of  the  married  females,  who  had 
left  a  wife  and  family  in  Rochester,  till  he  could  return  and  bring 
them  the  following  year. 

After  travelling  through  New  England,  New  York,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, early  in  November  the  pilgrims  reached  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  ranges,  and  commenced  the  ascent  of  those  rocky  barriers 
which  divide  the  sources  of  the  Susquehanna  river  from  those  which 
fall  into  the  Ohio. 

The  evening  after  they  left  Carlisle,  they  were  overtaken  by  an 
old  acquaintance  and  neighbor,  who  was  also  with  his  family  on  his 
way  to  Muskingum.  He  had  started  about  the  same  time  with  the 
others,  with  an  ox  team  of  three  yokes,  and  by  dint  of  steady  and 
late  driving,  had  managed  to  keep  within  a  day's  march  of  them, 
and  here,  by  making  a  little  extra  exertion,  he  overtook  them.  Ox 
teams  were  preferred  to  horses  by  many  of  the  early  New  England 
emigrants,  in  their  long  journeys  to  the  new  purchase.  Probably 
one  reason  for  this  was  their  greater  familiarity  with  their  use  as 
beasts  of  draught;  another,  that  they  were  much  better  suited  to 
work  among  stumps  and  logs,  and  were  also  much  less  likely  to  be 
stolen  by  the  Indians.  Their  rate  of  travel  was  a  little  slower  than 
that  of  the  horse,  but  they  could  make  about  twenty  miles  a  day, 
where  the  roads  were  good. 

The  roads  at  that  day,  across  the  mountains,  were  the  worst  that 
we  can  imagine,  cut  into  deep  gullies  on  one  side  by  mountain  rains, 
while  the  other  was  filled  with  blocks  of  sandstone.  The  descents 
were  abrupt,  and  often  resembled  the  breaks  in  a  flight  of  stone 
stairs,  whose  lofty  steps  were  built  for  the  children  of  Titan  rather 
than  the  sons  of  men.  As  few  of  the  emigrant  wagons  were  pro- 
vided with  lock-chains  for  the  wheels,  the  downward  impetus  was 
checked  by  a  large  log,  or  broken  tree  top,  tied  with  a  rope  to  the 
back  of  the  wagon  and  dragged  along  on  the  ground.  In  other 
places,  the  road  was  so  sideling  that  all  the  men  who  could  be  spared 
were  required  to  pull  at  the  side  stays,  or  short  ropes  attached  to 
9* 


202  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

the  upper  side  of  the  wagons,  to  prevent  their  upsetting.  By  divid- 
ing their  forces  with  Isaac,  they  made  out  to  prevent  any  serious 
accidents  of  this  kind,  although  it  seemed  many  times  impossible  to 
prevent  it.  The  ground,  naturally  moist  and  springy  on  the  sides 
of  the  mountains,  was  now  rendered  very  muddy  and  wet  by  the 
November  rains,  which  had  begun  to  fall  almost  daily.  As  they 
approached  the  middle  and  higher  ranges,  the  rain  was  changed  to 
snow  and  sleet,  which  added  still  more  to  the  difficulties  and  dreari- 
ness of  the  way.  From  the  weight  of  the  loaded  wagons  and  the 
abrupt  acclivities  of  the  road,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  women  and 
children  to  walk  up  all  the  steep  ascents — it  being  beyond  the  power 
of  the  horses  to  pull  their  additional  weight  up  many  of  the  sharp 
pitches  of  the  mountains.  Th-3  children  often  stuck  by  the  way,  or 
lost  their  shoes  in  the  mud,  occasioning  a  world  of  trouble  to  the 
elder  girls,  to  whose  share  it  fell  to  look  after  the  welfare  of  the  little 
ones. 

After  crossing  the  "  Blue  mountain,"  the  "  Middle,"  and  the 
"  Tuscarora  mountain,"  late  one  Saturday  evening  they  descended  into 
the  u  Ah  wick  valley,"  and  Mr.  Rouse's  family  put  up  at  the  house 
of  an  honest  German  Dunkard,  named  Christian  Hiples  ;  while  the 
other  two  teams -went  to  an  old  tavern  stand,  well  known  to  the 
early  pack-horsemen  and  borderers  of  that  region.  This  was  a  quiet 
and  tolerably  fertile  valley,  environed  by  mountains.  In  it  was 
seated  old  "  Fort  Littleton,"  and  under  the  protection  of  its  walls 
had  sprung  up,  many  years  ago,  quite  a  thriving  settlement,  with  a 
number  of  fine  plantations.  All  this  part  of  the  country,  and  as  far 
east  as  Carlisle,  had  been,  about  twenty-five  years  before,  depopu- 
lated by  the  depredations  of  the  Indians.  Many  of  the  present 
inhabitants  well  remembered  those  days  of  trial,  and  could  not  see 
these  helpless  women  and  children  moving  so  far  away  into  the 
wilderness  as  Ohio,  without  expressing  their  fears  at  the  danger 
they  would  incur  from  the  deadly  hate  of  the  Indians. 

They  tarried  over  the  Sabbath,  and  the  following  Monday,  under 
the  hospitable  roof  of  this  Christian  Dunkard — whose  long  white 
beard,  reaching  to  the  waist,  greatly  excited  the  curiosity  of  the 


REBECCA   ROUSE.  203 

children.  His  family  consisted  of  several  young  women,  who  treated 
the  wayfaring  females  with  great  kindness ;  heating  their  huge  out- 
of-door  oven  for  them,  and  assisting  them  in  the  baking  of  a 
large  batch  of  bread  for  the  journey,  with  many  other  acts  of  true 
Christian  charity.  On  Tuesday  morning,  when  they  departed,  they 
loaded  them  with  potatoes  and  vegetables  from  their  garden,  as 
many  as  they  would  venture  to  carry,  without  making  any  charge. 
They  parted  from  them  with  many  prayers  and  good  wishes 
for  their  welfare  on  the  road,  and  the  happy  termination  of 
their  long  and  perilous  journey.  The  inhabitants  generally  treated 
them  kindly,  and  the  further  they  advanced  into  the  confines 
of  the  wilderness,  and  left  the  older  settlements,  the  more  hospitality 
abounded.  They  received  them  more  readily  into  their  houses,  and 
more  willingly  assisted  them  with  their  cooking  utensils,  or  any 
other  thing  they  possessed,  or  the  wayfarers  needed. 

While  the  travellers  in  Rouse's  wagon  were  treated  so  kindly, 
Isaac,  who  was  excitable  and  very  headstrong,  met  with  rather 
rough  usage  from  the  hand  of  the  old  inn-keeper  with  whom 
he  put  up.  This  man  had  been  a  great  bruiser  in  his  younger  days, 
and  had  lost  one  eye  in  some  of  these  frays ;  a  thing  not  at  all  un- 
common among  the  early  borderers.  He  was  naturally  a  rough 
man,  and  the  loss  of  his  eye  added  still  more  to  his  ferocious 
appearance.  It  seems  that  he  had  placed  the  rounds  of  the  rack,  in 
his  stable,  so  close  together  it  was  next  to  impossible  for  the  horses 
to  pull  any  of  the  hay  through,  so  that,  although  there  was 
plenty  before  them,  they  were  none  the  better  for  it.  Isaac  could 
not  stand  quietly  by  and  say  nothing,  when  his  hard-working 
horses  needed  their  food  so  much  ;  and  then  to  pay  for  that  they 
did  not  eat  besides !  He  remonstrated  with  the  landlord  on 
the  matter,  but  received  only  abuse  for  his  pains.  After  pay- 
ing back  a  little  of  the  same  coin,  he  fell  to  work  and  broke 
out  every  other  round.  The  old  fellow  then  fell  upon  Isaac, 
determined  to  give  him  a  sound  beating ;  but  in  this  he  was  sadly 
mistaken,  and  got  very  roughly  handled  himself.  The  horses,  how- 
ever, got  plenty  of  hay,  and  Isaac  told  him  he  should  be  back 


h-04  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

again  in  the  spring,  and  if  he  found  the  slats  replaced,  he  would  give 
him  another  and  still  sounder  thrashing. 

Three  days  after  leaving  the  quiet  valley,  with  much  exertion  and 
many  narrow  escapes  from  oversetting,  they  reached  the  little 
village  of  Bedford.  During  this  period  they  had  crossed  "  Sideling 
hill,"  forded  some  of  the  main  branches  of  the  Juniata,  and  threaded 
the  narrow  valleys  along  its  borders.  Every  few  miles,  long  strings 
of  pack-horses  met  them  on  the  road,  bearing  heavy  burthens 
f  peltry  and  ginseng,  the  two  main  articles  of  export  from 
he  regions  west  of  the  mountains.  Others  overtook  them  loaded 
,vith  kegs  of  spirits,  salt,  and  bales  of  dry  goods,  on  their  way  to  the 
traders  in  Pittsburgh.  The  fore-horse  generally  carried  a  small  bell, 
which  distinguished  him  as  the  leader.  One  man  had  the  charge  of 

o  o 

ten  horses,  which  was  as  many  as  he  could  manage  by  day,  and  look 
after  at  nigKt.  For  many  years  this  was  the  manner  in  which 
nearly  all  the  transportation  was  done  over  the  mountains.  The 
roads  were  nearly  impassable  for  wagons  till  near  the  close  of  the 
Indian  war,  in  1795. 

One  of  their  greatest  trials  was  in  crossing  the  Alleghanies.  Four 
miles  beyond  Bedford,  the  road  to  the  right  was  called  the  "  Pitts- 
burg  road,"  while  that  to  the  left  was  called  the  "  Glade  road,"  and 
led  to  Simrel's  ferry,  on  the  Yohiogany  river.  This  was  the  route 
of  the  emigrants,  and  led,  as  well  as  the  other,  across  the  Alleghany. 
In  passing  this  formidable  barrier,  our  travellers  were  belated ;  and 
it  was  nearly  midnight  before  they  reached  the  house  where  they 
were  to  lodge.  The  night  was  excessively  dark ;  the  whole  party, 
except  the  younger  children,  were  on  foot,  and  could  only  keep  the 
path  "by  feeling  the  bushes  along  the  sides  of  the  road.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  Michael  Rouse  and  Capt.  Haskell,  who  was  their  only 
guide,  had  gone  ahead  with-  the  other  wagon,  and  was  entirely  be- 
yond hail ;  leaving  Isaac,  with  Mr.  Rouse  and  all  the  females,  to 
pick  their  way  along  the  miry  road  in  the  best  manner  they  could. 
In  the  midst  of  all  this  gloom,  the  spirits  of  the  former  never  flagged 
in  the  least ;  but  the  more  difficulties  increased  the  louder  he  sang, 
and  some  of  his  most^ cheerful  ditties  were  echoed  that  night  from 


KEBECCA    BOUSE.  205 

the  rocky  side  of  the  Alleghany.  Mr.  Rouse,  who  had  been  often 
exposed  to  winds  and  storms,  could  not  stand  the  trudging  along, 
ancle  deep,  in  the  mud  and  dark,  without  venting  his  feelings  in 
many  a  hearty  curse  on  the  vexations  of  the  night.  When  about  a 
mile  from  the  house,  they  were  unexpectedly  cheered  at  hearing  the 
lively  whistle  of  Michael ;  and  directly  after,  in  a  turn  of  the  road, 
espied  the  light  of  a  lantern  brought  by  Capt.  Haskell,  who  had  re- 
turned after  putting  up  his  own  team,  to  meet  the  stragglers  and 
guide  them  on  the  way.  A  bright  fire  was  blazing  on  the  hearth 
of  the  little  log  inn,  the  warmth  and  sparkling  of  which  soon  restored 
their  spirits.  It  was  past  midnight  before  they  had  cooked  and 
eaten  their  suppers  and  spread  their  couches  on  the  puncheon  floor 
of  the  hut.  The  fatigues  of  the  journey  caused  them  to  sleep  very 
soundly,  and  they  awoke  the  next  morning  with  fresh  courage  to 
meet  the  trials  of  the  day  before  them. 

In  descending  the  Alleghany,  the  children  and  girls  'were  much 
delighted  at  seeing  the  side  of  the  road  covered  with  the  vivid  green 
leaves  and  bright  scarlet  berries  of  the  "partridge  bush,"  or  "  check- 
erberry."  It  was  a  common  fruit  at  "  The  Longplain,"  and  the 
sight  of  it  reminded  them  of  their  home  and  the  scenes  they  had 
left.  For  a  while  the  little  boys  forgot  the  fatigues  of  the  road  at 
the  sight  of  this  favorite  fruit,  and  cheered  each  other  with  joyous 
shouts,  as  fresh  patches  from  time  to  time  appeared  by  the  side  of 
the  way.  Even  the  married  females  were  exhilarated  by  the  cheer- 
ful spirits  exhibited  by  the  children,  and  partook  freely  of  the  spicy 
fruit  which  they  collected  in  large  handfuls.  As  they  descended 
the  western  slope  of  the  mountains,  the  springs  of  limpid  water, 
which  gushed  fresh  and  pure  from  the  earth  along  its  sides,  now  ran 
babbling  along  to  join  their  puny  rills  with  those  of  the  Ohio.  This 
range  is  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  eastern  and  the  western 
streams,  and  the  travellers  could  now  see  the  waters  which  flowed 
towards  the  end  of  their  journey. 

After  reaching  the  foot  of  this  picturesque  range,  they  had  to  cross 
a  region  called  u  The  Glades,"  an  elevated  plateau,  which,  in  many 
points,  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  prairies  of  the  west.  The 


PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

soil  was  dark  colored,  thinly  coated  with  trees,  and  covered  with 
coarse  grass.  In  crossing  "  Laurel  ridge,"  which  bounds  -the  west- 
ern side  of  the  glades,  and  is  so  named  from  the  profusion  of  rhodo- 
dendron, or  rosebay,  and  kahnia  latifolia,  or  laurel,  which  cluster 
along  its  rocky  sides,  the  girls  and  older  boys  had  to  walk  the  whole 
distance.  The  labor  was  the  more  difficult  from  the  ground  being 
covered  with  snow,  which  had  fallen  to  the  depth  of  several  inches 
on  the  sides  and  top  of  the  ridge,  during  the  last  twenty-four  hours  ; 
while  at  the  same  time  it  had  been  raining  in  the  valley,  or  table 
land,  between  the  ranges.  The  bushes  were  bent  down  by  the 
weight  of  the  snow,  and  partly  obstructed  the  path  ;  so  that  long 
before  they  got  over,  their  shoes  were  saturated  with  water,  and  their 
clothes  were  dribbled  and  wet  half  leg  high.  The  "  boxberries  "  still 
showed  their  bright  scarlet  faces,  peeping  out  beneath  the  snow  and 
ice,  as  large  as  common  red  cherries.  At  the  western  foot  of  the 
ridge,  their  road  was  crossed  by  a  stream  too  deep  for  them  to  ford ; 
and  the  girls  being  several  miles  ahead  of  the  wagons,  whose  pro- 
gress was  very  slow,  were  much  rejoiced  to  find  a  cabin  in  which 
they  could  rest  until  the  teams  came  up.  The  rendezvous  for  the 
night  was  beyond  the  creek,  as  this  was  the  only  place  where  they 
could  get  feed  for  their  horses.  While  waiting  at  this  spot,  a  stout 
young  mountaineer,  clad  in  his  hunting-frock  and  leggins,  came 
dashing  along  on  a  powerful  horse,  and  very  kindly,  as  well  as  gal- 
lantly, offered  to  take  the  girls  over  the  stream,  if  they  would  trust 
themselves  behind  him  on  the  horse,  and  conduct  them  safely  to  the 
house  where  they  were  to  stop.  But  his  uncouth  dress  and  their 
own  natural  timidity  made  them  decline  the  offer,  choosing  rather 
to  wait  the  arrival  of  their  friends.  Just  at  dark  they  came  up,  and 
taking  them  into  the  wagons,  they  crossed  the  stream  more  to  their 
own  liking,  if  not  more  safely  than  under  the  charge  of  the  young 
.mountaineer. 

The  following  day  they  crossed  "  Chesnut  ridge,"  the  last  of  the 
mountain  ranges,  so  named  from  the  immense  forests  of  chesnut 
trees  that  clothe  its  sides  and  summit,  for  nearly  the  whole  of  its  ex- 
tent in  Pennsylvania  and  part  of  Virginia.  The  soil  is  sandy  and 


REBECCA    BOUSE.  207 

rocky  ;  and  so  exactly  adapted  to  the  growth  of  this  tree,  that  no 
part  of  the  world  produces  it  more  abundantly.  In  fruitful  years, 
the  hogs,  from  a  distance  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  were  driven  by 
the  inhabitants,  every  autumn,  to  fatten  on  its  fruit.  Bears, 
wild  turkeys,  elk  and  deer,  travelled  from  afar  to  this  nut-producing 
region,  and  luxuriated  on  its  bountiful  crop.  The  congregations  of 
wild  animals,  on  this  favored  tract,  made  it  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated hunting  grounds,  not  only  for  the  Indians,  but  also  for 
the  white  man  who  succeeded  him  in  the  possession  of  these  mountain 
regions.  The  children  here  loaded  their  little  pockets  with  chesnuts, 
and  for  a  while  forgot  the  pinching  cold  of  the  half  frozen  leaves  and 
frost  covered  burrs  among  which  they  were  scattered.  Not  long 
after  crossing  this  ridge  they  reached  Simrel's  ferry,  on  the 
Yohiogany  river.  They  hailed  this  spot  with  delight,  as  they  were 
to  travel  no  further  in  their  wagons,  but  finish  the  journey  by 
water.  They  were  also  glad  on  another  account ;  two  of  the  horses 
had  been  failing  for  some  days,  were  now  near  giving  out,  and  in 
fact  died  before  reaching  Buffalo,  a  small  village  on  the  Ohio 
river. 

It  was  now  near  the  last  of  November,  and  winter  fast  approach- 
ing. In  a  short  time  a  boat  was  procured,  as  they  were  kept  ready 
made  for  the  use  of  emigrants.  The  one  they  bought  was  about 
forty  feet  long  and  twelve  feet  wide,  but  without  any  roof,  as  they 
could  not  wait  for  it  to  be  finished.  On  board  of  this  they 
put  their  wagons,  and  contrived  to  make  a  temporary  shelter  with 
their  linen  covers.  The  horses  were  sent  by  land  across  the  coun- 
try to  Buffalo,  at  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  creek,  distant  by  this  route 
only  fifty-three  miles  from  the  ferry,  but  more  than  a  hundred  by 
water.  This  was  a  common  practice  with  the  early  emigrants,  as 
the  water  of  the  Yohiogany  was  too  shallow  in  autumn  to  float  a 
boat  drawing  over  eighteen  or  twenty  inches.  In  the  stern  of  the 
boat  was  a  rude  fire-place  for  cooking,  and  their  beds  were  spread 
on  the  floor  of  the  ark. 

After  laying  in  a  stock  of  food,  they  pushed  merrily  out  into  the 
current  of  the  "  Yoh,"  as  it  was  familiarly  called  bv  the  borderers  of 


208  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

that  region,  and  floated  rapidly  along,  sometimes  grazing  on  the 
shallows,  and  at  others  grounding  on  the  sandbars.  By. dint  of 
rowing  and  pushing  they  made  out  to  get  on ;  especially  after  fall- 
ing into  the  larger  current  of  the  Monongahela,  and  reached  Pitts- 
burgh in  safety  on  Sunday  evening.  They  were  now  at  the  junction 
of  these  two  noble  streams,  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela,  and 
saw  the  waters  of  the  charming  Ohio,  the  object  of  all  their  toils; 
and  were,  apparently,  at  the  end  of  their  journey.  Near  the  point 
of  land  where  the  Ohio  first  takes  its  name,  they  landed  their  un- 
couth and  unwieldy  water-craft,  making  it  fast  to  a  stake  on  the 
bank.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  men  went  up  into  the 
town  to  purchase  some  articles  needed  to  make  the  families  com- 
fortable in  their  downward  voyage.  Pittsburg  then  contained  four 
or  five  hundred  inhabitants,  and  several  retail  stores,  and  a  small 
garrison  of  troops  was  kept  up  in  Old  Fort  Pitt.  To  our  travellers, 
who  had  lately  seen  nothing  but  trees  and  rocks,  with  here  and 
there  a  solitary  hut,  it  seemed  to  be  quite  a  large  town.  The 
houses  were  chiefly  built  of  logs,  but  now  and  then  one  had  begun 
to  assume  the  appearance  of  neatness  and  comfort. 

Capt.  Haskell  and  Mr.  Rouse,  for  some  cause  now  forgotten,  did 
not  return  to  lodge  in  the  boat,  but  stayed  at  the  tavern  ;  Michael, 
Isaac,  and  Gushing  had  gone  overland  with  the  horses,  so  that  the 
women  and  children  were  left  alone  in  the  boat.  In  the  middle  of 
the  night,  one  of  the  older  boys  was  awakened  by  the  water  coming 
into  his  bed  on  the  floor.  lie  immediately  raised  an  outcry,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  darkness,  bustle,  and  confusion  of  the  moment, 
they  found  the  boat  was  half  leg  deep  in  the  water.  Great  was  the 
consternation  of  the  older  females,  who  thought,  not  without  reason, 
that  they  must  all  be  drowned.  It  so  happened  that  the  water  was 
not  very  deep  where  the  boat  was  moored,  and  as  the  gunwales 
rested  on  the  bottom  at  the  depth  of  two  or  three  feet,  it  could  sink 
no  further.  This  disaster  was  occasioned  by  the  falling  of  the  river 
during  the  night ;  the  land  side  of  the  boat  rested  on  the  shore, 
while  the  outer  corner  settled  in  the  stream  until  the  water  ran 
through  the  seams  in  the  planking  above  the  gunwale — they  being 


.  a. 


REBECCA   BOUSE.  209 

badly  caulked.  They  hurried  on  shore  as  fast  as  they  could.  A 
kind-hearted  man,  by  the  name  of  Kilbreath,  whose  house  stood  on 
the  bank  near  the  boat,  heard  the  screams  of  the  children,  and 
taking  a  light  came  to  their  assistance.  He  invited  them  all  up  to 
his  house  and  provided  them  lodging  by  a  good  warm  fire ;  he  then 
called  some  men  to  his  aid,  and  before  morning,  got  the  wet  articles 
out  of  the  boat,  and  assisted  the  females  in  drying  them.  When 
Mr.  Rouse  and  Capt.  Haskell  came  back  in  the  morning,  they  were 
much  chagrined  at  the  accident ;  as  had  they  been  on  board,  they 
thought  it  could  have  been  prevented.  The  next  morning  Mr. 
Kilbreath  gave  them  all  a  nice  warm  breakfast,  and  like  the  good 
Samaritan,  would  take  nothing  but  their  grateful  thanks  for  his 
trouble.  Having  baled  out  the  boat  and  got  her  once  more  afloat, 
they  reloaded  their  household  goods,  got  on  board  a  stock  of  pro- 
visions, and  prepared  to  renew  their  voyage  in  the  course  of  the 
day. 

Ft  so  happened  that  there  was  an  old  trapper  and  hunter  by  the 
name  of  Bruce,  who  was  familiar  with  the  river,  just  ready  to  start 
down  stream  in  a  large  canoe,  or  pereauger,  on  a  trapping  expedition 
for  the  winter,  on  some  of  the  more  southern  waters ;  him  they 
engaged  for  a  pilot,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  early  days,  although 
there  was  but  little  or  no  danger  from  the  intricacy  of  the  channel. 
His  canoe  was  about  forty  feet  long,  and  had  on  board  a  barrel  of 
flour,  some  fat  bacon,  four  beaver  traps,  a  camp  kettle,  two  tin  cups, 
and  a  light  axe.  These,  with  his  rifle,  blanket,  and  ammunition,' 
formed  his  stock  for  the  winter.  The  canoe  was  lashed  alongside 
the  boat,  and  he  came  on  board  as  pilot. 

It  was  near  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  on  Monday,  when  they 
put  out  from  Pittsburgh.  •  The  day  had  been  cloudy  and  threatened 
rain  from  the  south.  Just  at  evening  the  wind  shifted  to  the  north- 
west and  blew  quartering  across  the  bend  of  the  river  in  which  they 
were  then  floating.  It  soon  rose  to  a  complete  gale,  and  knocked  up 
such  a  sea,  as  threw  the  crests  of  the  waves  over  the  side  of  the 
boat,  threatening  to  upset,  if  not  sink,  the  unwieldy  craft.  In  this 
dilemma,  the  pilot  and  all  hands  exerted  their  utmost  at  the  oars,  to 


210  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

bring  the  boat  to  land  on  tne  "  Federal,"  or  Pennsylvania  shore  ;  but 
the  wind  and  the  waves  were  both  adverse.  The  boat  could  have 
been  landed  on  the  right,  or  "  Indian  shore,"  but  they  feared  to  do 
so,  lest  in  the  night  they  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians, 
who  although  it  was  apparently  a  time  of  peace,  robbed  the 
boats  and  killed  the  straggling  whites  at  every  favorable  opportunity. 
The  large  pereauger  bounded  and  thumped  against  the  side  of  the 
boat,  threatening  to  break  in  the  planks,  and  was  cut  loose  by  the 
hand  of  the  pilot.  In  this  extremity,  when  every  fresh  wave  threat- 
ened to  overwhelm  them,  Bruce  cried  out  to  his  shipmates,  in  a 
voice  that  was  easily  heard  above  the  storm,  "  We  must  put  over  to 
the  Indian  shore,  or  every  man,  woman  and  child  will  be  lost !" 
Previous  to  this,  the  more  feeble  portion  of  the  passengers  had  kept 
tolerably  quiet,  although  exceedingly  alarmed ;  but  this  announce-  • 
ment,  to  the  women  and  children,  sounded  like  their  death  knell, 
and  the  boat  instantly  resounded  with  their  screams  of  despair. 
Capt.  Haskell,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  perils  of  various  kinds, 
and  was  a  man  of  iron  nerves,  did  what  he  could  to  calm  their 
terrors.  Bruce,  who  was  in  fact  a  skilful  pilot,  as  well  as  a  brave 
man,  instantly  laid  the  bow  of  the  boat  over  to  the  Indian  shore. 
The  wind  and  the  waves  both  favored  the  movement,  and  with  a 
little  aid  from  the  oars  in  a  few  minutes  she  was  riding  in  safety 
under  a  high  point  of  land,  which  sheltered  them  from  the  wind  in 
comparatively  quiet  water. 

The  sudden  transition  from  the  jaws  of  death  to  this  tranquil 
haven,  filled  the  hearts  of  the  females  with  songs  of  gratitude  ;  and 
the  boat  was  hardly  moored  to  the  bank  before  they  sprung  upon 
the  land,  rejoiced  once  more  to  tread  the  solid  earth,  although  it  was 
the  dreaded  Indian  shore.  Bruce  soon  kindled  a  fire  by  the  side  of 
a  large  fallen  tree,  and  setting  up  some  forked  sticks  and  poles, 
stretched  some  blankets  across,  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  a  rude 
tent.  Beneath  this  shelter  they  spread  their  beds,  choosing  rather 
to  risk  the  chance  of  an  attack  from  Indians  than  to  trust  themselves 
on  the  water  again  that  night.  From  the  hunting  camp  of  some 
white  men,  whose  smoke  the  pilot  had  noticed  just  before  the  storm 


REBECCA   ROUSE.  211 

came  on,  he  procured  a  fine  fat  saddle  of  venison,  and  tbe  whole 
party  feasted  with  cheerful  hearts  that  evening  on  the  nice  steaks  of 
this  delicious  meat.  Some  they  broiled  on  the  coals,  while  Bruce 
showed  them  how  to  roast  it,  hunter  fashion,  on  a  hickory  skewer 
filled  full  of  pieces  and  stuck  up  in  the  earth  before  the  fire  ;  this, 
with  a  cup  of  not^coffee,  furnished  a  very  comfortable  meal.  They 
slept  undisturbed  that  night ;  though  ever  and  anon,  the  sighing  of 
the  winds  in  the  tops  of  the  trees  led  the  more  timid  of  the  females 
to  fancy  they  heard  the  stealthy  approach  of  Indians. 

In  the  morning,  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow  to  the  depth 
of  several  inches,  which  had  fallen  while  they  were  asleep.  The  day 
following  the  storm  was  fine  and  pleasant,  and  the  smooth,  calm 
surface  of  the  Ohio  exhibited  a  striking  contrast  to  the  tumult  and 
uproar  which  had  agitated  its  bosom  only  a  few  hours  before.  From 
Fort  Mclntosh,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver,  to  the  new  settlement  at 
Muskingum,  no  white  man  had  dared  to  plant  himself  on  the  Indian 
shore  of  the  river,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  blockhouse  a  few 
miles  below  Buffalo,  which  some  hunters  had  built  as  a  place  to 
which  they  might  retreat  if  attacked  by  their  enemies,  while  out 
hunting  in  the  region  west  of  the  river.  Even  here  there  was  little 
or  no  clearing,  and  all  else  was  unbroken  wilderness.  They  embarked 
early  in  the  morning  and  reached  Buffalo  that  evening.  In  the  course 
of  the  forenoon  they  found  the  pereauger  of  Bruce  lodged  on  the 
shore  and  filled  with  water.  It  still  contained  the  barrel  of  flour, 
meat,  axe,  etc.,  with  all  the  traps  but  one.  The  buoyancy  of  the 
light  poplar  wood  of  which  it  was  made,  prevented  it  from  sinking, 
and  the  ballast  of  the  traps,  axe,  etc.,  from  upsetting ;  so  that,  quite 
unexpectedly,  the  old  trapper  recovered  his  boat  and  goods,  which 
he  had  given  up  as  utterly  lost.  At  Buffalo,  they  were  greeted  with 
the  loud  laugh  and  boisterous  welcome  of  Isaac,  who,  with  Michael 
and  Shaw,  had  been  waiting  one  or  two  days  with  the  horses  for 
their  arrival. 

The  women  and  children,  still  impressed  with  dread  lest  another 
Btorm  should  overtake  them,  concluded  to  lodge  on  shore,  and  ac- 
cordingly took  quarters  for  the  night  on  the  floor  of  a  small  log  hut 


PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

that  stood  at  the  extremity  of  the  point  of  land  at  the  mouth  of 
Buffalo  creek.  In  the  morning  Mrs.  Devoll  came  near  losing  a  part 
of  her  bedding.  A  gaily  ornamented  new  woollen  blanket  had 

o  o        •/ 

attracted  the  attention  of  Mrs.  Riley,  the  mistress  of  the  cabin,  as  it 
lay  spread  over  the  sleepers  in  the  night,  and  in  the  hurry  and 
bustle  of  rolling  up  the  bed  clothes,  she  adroitly  managed  to  secrete 
it  among  her  own  bedding,  stowed  away  in  the  corner  of  the  room. 
Mrs.  Devoll  soon  missed  it,  and  after  a  careful  but  fruitless  search 
among  her  own  things,  did  not  hesitate  to  accuse  the  woman  of  se- 
creting it.  She  roundly  denied  any  knowledge  of  the  blanket.  Being 
a  resolute  woman,  and  determined  not  to  give  it  up  in  this  way,  Mrs. 
Devoll  made  an  overhauling  of  Mrs.  Riley's  chattels,  when  much  to 
the  chagrin  and  disappointment  of  the  border  woman,  she  pulled 
out  the  lost  article,  rolled  up  in  her  dingy  bedding.  Thinking  they 
had  recovered  all  the  missing  goods,  they  hurried  aboard  their  boat 
at  the  exciting  call  of  Isaac,  who  was  ready  to  depart,  and  in  no 
very  good  humor  with  the  hospitality  of  Mrs.  Riley  At  Wheeling, 
where  they  stopped  for  some  milk,  they  discovered,  much  to  their 
vexation,  that  they  had  also  lost  a  new  two-quart  measure,  which 
they  had  brought  all  the  way  with  them  for  the  purpose  of  measur- 
ing the  milk  they  should  need  to  purchase  on  the  road.  In  a  few 
years  after  this  adventure,  during  the  Indian  war,  this  family  of 
Rileys,  who  still  lived  in  the  same  spot,  were  all  massacred  by  the. 
savages. 

At  Grave  creek  they  took  on  board  a  stout,  hearty  old  man,  as  a 
passenger,  by  the  name  of  Green.  He  assisted  Bruce  and  their  crew, 
each  by  taking  turns  at  the  oars  and  rowing  all  night,  and  with  the 
music  of  Isaac  and  the  old  man,  who  proved  an  excellent  singer,  they 
made  out  to  reach  the  mouth  of  Muskinguni  just  at  dark  on  Thurs- 
day evening,  the  fourth  day  after  leaving  Pittsburg.  Ice  had  been 
making  in  the  Ohio  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  and  the  travellers 
were  fortunate  in  arriving  as  they  did,  for  the  following  morning  the 
Muskingum  river  was  frozen  over  from  shore  to  shore.  Great  was 
the  consternation  of  Mrs.  Rouse,  who  had  an  instinctive  dread  of 
Indians,  at  seeing  the  woods  and  side  hill,  back  of  Fort  Harmer, 


REBECCA   ROUSE.  213 

lighted  up  with  a  multitude  of  fires,  when  she  was  told  that  they 
were  the  camp  fires  of  three  hundred  savages.  They  had  come  in 
to  a  treaty,  which  was  held  the  ninth  of  January  following.  It  was 
early  in  December,  and  the  emigrants  had  been  more  than  eight 
weeks  on  the  road.  The  news  of  their  arrival  was  soon  carried  to 
Campus  Marti  us,  the  name  of  the  new  garrison.  Capt.  Devoll  hur- 
ried on  board,  delighted  once  more  to  embrace  his  wife  and  children, 
from  whom  he  had  been  absent  more  than  a  year.  Their  goods  and 
chattels  were  put  into  the  "Mayflower,"  which  was  used^as  a  receiv- 
ing boat  for  the  emigrants,  and  with  the  women  and  children,  landed 
at  the  Ohio  company's  wharf.  Devoll  had  built  a  comfortable  two- 
story  house  in  one  of  the  curtains  of  the  garrison,  to  which  all  were 
removed  that  night,  and  his  happy  family  slept  once  more  under 
their  own  roof,  in  the  far  distant  region  of  the  Northwest  Territory. 

The  following  spring,  a  company  or  association  was  formed  to 
commence  the  settlement  fourteen  miles  below,  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Ohio,  afterwards  called  Belprie.  Capt.  Devoll,  Mr.  Rouse, 
Michael,  Capt.  Haskell  and  Isaac,  joined  this  association.  The  latter 
returned  to  New  England,  and  moved  out  his  family  in  the  fall  of 
1789.  By  the  time  the  settlers  were  about  to  begin  to  reap  a  little 
of  the  fruits  of  their  hard  labor,  in  clearing  land,  building  cabins,  etc., 
the  Indian  war  broke  out,  and  they  were  all  driven  into  garrison  for 
some  five  years.  Many  were  the  dangers  and  hardships  they  here 
endured,  suffering  most  from  the  small  pox  and  scarlatina  maligna. 

In  the  summer  of  1790,  Bathsheba  Rouse  taught  a  school  of 
young  boys  and  girls  at  Belprie,  which  is  believed  to  be  the  first 
school  of  white  children  ever  assembled  within  the  bounds  of  the 
present  State  of  Ohio.  The  Moravian  missionaries  had  Indian  schools 
at  Gnadenhutten  and  Schonbrunn,  on  the  Tuscarawas,  as  early  as 
the  year  1779,  eleven  years  before  this  time.  She  also  taught  for 
several  successive  summers  within  the  walls  of  "  Farmer's  Castle," 
the  name  of  the  stout  garrison  built  by  the  settlers  sixteen  miles 
below  Marietta.  After  the  close  of  the  war  the  colonists  moved  out 
upon  their  farms.  Mr.  Rouse  and  his  family  remained  in  Belprie. 
Bathsheba  married,  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  Richard,  the  son 


214:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

of  Griffen  Greene,  one  of  the  Ohio  company's  agents,  and  a  leading 
man  in  all  public  affairs.  Cynthia  married  the  Hon.  Paul  Fearing, 
the  first  delegate  to  Congress  from  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  for 
many  years  a  judge  of  the  court.  Elizabeth  married  Levi  Barber, 
for  many  years  receiver  of  public  moneys,  and  member  of  Con- 
gress for  this  district  during  two  sessions.  The  children  of  these 
emigrant  females,  for  wealth  and  respectability,  rank  among  the 
first  of  our  citizens. 

Thus  closes  this  sketch  of  the  early  emigrants  to  Muskingum, 
whose  adventures  are  only  the  counterpart  of  other  families  who 
crossed  the  Alleghany  ranges  in  the  year  1788.  It  is  in  fact  a  por- 
tion of  the  early  history  of  Ohio,  and  should  be  preserved  for  the 
same  reasons  that  Virgil  has  preserved  the  incidents  of  the  voyage 
of  ^Eneas  from  Troy  to  Italy — they  were  the  founders  of  a  new 
state.  Those  days  of  hardship  cannot  be  reviewed  with  other  than 
feelings  of  the  highest  respect  for  the  individuals  who  dared  to  brave 
the  difficulties  and  uncertainties  of  a  pioneer  life.* 

*  The  foregoing  memoir  is  much  shortened  from  the  original  one  by  Dr. 
Hildreth. 


XII. 

SARAH    SIBLEY. 

SARAH  W.  SPROAT  was  born  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  on  the 
28th  of  January,  1782.  She  was  the  only  child  of  Col.  Ebenezer 
Sproat,  a  gallant  and  accomplished  officer  of  the  Revolution,  and  the 
granddaughter  of  Commodore  Abraham  Whipple,  who  also  repeat- 
edly distinguished  himself  during  that  war  by  his  activity  and 
bravery.  At  the  commencement  of  the  struggle,  Commodore  Whip- 
pie  was  wealthy,  but  had  impoverished  himself  by  his  advances  to 
Government  in  fitting  out  vessels  and  men  for  the  public  service,  for 
which  he  was  never  remunerated,  and  at  its  close  found  he  could  no 
longer  sustain  the  style  of  living  befitting  his  position  in  society,  and 
to  which  he  was  accustomed.  His  son-in-law,  Col.  Sproat,  was  in 
the  same  situation,  and  both  being  too  proud  and  high-spirited  to 
conform  patiently  to  their  change  of  circumstances,  they  determined 
to  join  a  party  of  their  companions-in-arms,  who  were  about  to  seek 
a  new  home  in  the  yet  unexplored  wilderness  of  the  West. 

They  were  of  the  advance  party  who  landed  in  1788  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Muskingum,  and  commenced  the  settlement  of  Marietta. 
Burnet  says  in  his  notes — "  The  early  adventurers  to  the  North- 
western Territory  were  generally  men  who  had  spent  the  prime  of 
their  lives  in  the  war  of  Independence.  Many  of  them  had  ex- 
hausted their  fortunes  in  maintaining  the  desperate  struggle,  and 


216  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

retired  to  tne  wilderness  to  conceal  their  poverty,  and  avoid  compari- 
sons mortifying  to  their  pride,  while  struggling  to  maintain  their 
families  and  improve  their  condition.  Some  were  young  men  de- 
scended from  Revolutionary  patriots  who  had  fallen  in  the  contest,  or 
brcame  too  feeble  to  endure  the  fatigue  of  settling  a  wilderness. 
Others  were  adventurous  spirits,  to  whom  any  change  might  be  for 
.the  better." 

The  following  year  the  new  settlers  were  joined  by  their  families. 
It  is  difficult  now  to  conceive  the  extent  of  the  difficulties  against 
which  these  pioneers  had  to  contend,  besides  the  dangers  that  sur- 
rounded them.  So  great  was  the  difficulty  of  transportation  that 
they  were  only  able  to  bring  the  most  simple  necessaries  of  life  with 
them.  After  their  cabins  were  built,  some  of  them  were  for  months 
without  other  doors  than  blankets,,  and  with  no  furniture  but  the 
boxes  and  trunks  they  had  brought,  which  were  comrerted  into  seats, 
beds,  and  tables  as  the  occasion  required ;  and  just  as  they  were  be- 
coming comfortable  in  their  new  homes,  the  fearful  Indian  war 
broke  out,  and  every  day  brought  fresh  accounts  of  horrible  murders 
committed  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  almost  at  their  doors.  Col. 
Sproat  determined  to  remove  his  daughter  to  a  place  of  safety,  where 
she  might  at  the  same  time  receive  the  necessary  instruction  which 
during  the  existing  disturbances  she  could  not  enjoy  at  home. 

The  Moravian  school  at  Bethlehem  then  bore  a  high  reputation, 
and  in  1792,  when  Miss  Sproat  was  but  ten  years  old,  she  accom- 
panied her  father  over  the  mountains  to  Bethlehem,  most  of  the  way 
on  horseback ;  a  journey  that  would  be  thought  formidable  at  the 
present  day.  She  remained  there  three  years,  and  then  went  to 
Philadelphia  to  receive  lessons  in  some  accomplishments  which  she 
had  no  opportunities  for  acquiring  in  Bethlehem.  She  resided  while 
in  that  city  in  the  family  of  a  friend  of  her  father's,  and  became 
strongly  attached  to  its  members.  She  made  many  warm  friends 
in  Philadelphia,  and  left  it  with  regret.  But  her  father  had  become 
impatient  for  her  return,  and  went  for  her  in  the  spring  of  1797. 
He  at  that  time  purchased  a  piano  for  her  in  Philadelphia,  the  first 
taken  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains. 


i 


SARAH    SIBLEY.  217 

On  her  return,  she  found  Marietta  much  changed  and  improved- 
the  inhabitants  were  no  longer  in  fear  of  Indian  incursions,  and  many 
new  settlers  had  been  added  to  their  number.  It  had  become  quite 
a  town,  with  a  very  pleasant  society,  and  the  danger  they  had  shared 
in  common  had  tended  to  strengthen  the  bond  which  already  united 
the  early  colonists. 

The  years  intervening  between  Miss  Sproat's  return  and  her  mar- 
riage, passed  away  swiftly  and  happily.  Being  the  only  child,  she 
was  of  course  much  caressed  by  her  parents,  and  her  natural  gaiety 
and  affectionate,  generous  disposition  made  her  a  favorite  with  her 
young  friends.  Her  father  had  taken  great  pains  to  make  her  an 
accomplished  horsewoman,  arid  she  was  the  constant  companion  of 
his  rides.  To  this  habit  of  exercise  she  was  indebted  for  the  ease 
with  which  she  made  the  long  and  fatiguing  journeys  she  was  com- 
pelled to  take  in  after  life. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Northwest  Territorial  Government 
the  General  Court  had  its  sessions  alternately  at  Cincinnati,  Detroit, 
and  Marietta.  Mr.  Sibley  was  a  young  lawyer  of  high  standing,  who 
had  removed  from  Massachusetts  to  Ohio  in  1797,  and  soon  after- 
wards to  Detroit.  Judge  Burnet  says  of  him — "  He  possessed  a 
sound  mind,  improved  by  a  liberal  education,  and  a  stability  and 
firmness  of  character  which  commanded  general  respect,  and  secured 
to  him  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow  members."  He 
constantly  attended  the  sessions  of  the  Court,  and  was  of  course 
frequently  in  Marietta.  It  was  there  that  he  first  became  acquainted 
with  Miss  Sproat.  They  were  married  in  October,  1802,  but  she 
did  not  go  to  Detroit  until  the  following  spring. 

The  way  to  Detroit  at  that  time  was  by  the  Ohio  river  to  Pitts- 
burg,  across  to  Erie,  and  thence  by  water  to  Detroit ;  the  least 
fatiguing  but  a  very  tedious  route.  Being  entirely  at  the  mercy  of 
wind  and  weather,  travellers  were  often  ten  days  crossing  the  lake, 
and  in  one  instance  a  family  was  detained  three  weeks  between  Erie 
and  the  city  of  the  straits. 

Mrs.  Sibley  was  warmly  welcomed  on  her  arrival  by  her  husband's 
friends,  and  so  kindly  treated  that  she  soon  felt  at  home.  The 
10 


218  PIONEER  WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

society  was  delightful  at  that  time.  The  fort  was  strongly  garrisoned, 
and  most  of  the  officers  were  Southerners,  possessing  the  warmth 
and  ease  of  manner  peculiar  to  the  South.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
town  and  its  vicinity  were  principally  French.  Some  of  these  were 
descendants  of  noble  families  in  France,  and  prided  themselves  upon 
their  superior  polish  and  refinement.  For  about  six  months  in  the 
year  all  communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world  was  cut  off  by 
ice  and  snow.  At  these  seasons  the  people  seemed  determined  to 
make  up  for  their  isolation  by  increased  sociability  among  them- 
selves, and  every  one  kept  open  house.  Some  very  agreeable  per- 
sons resided  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  families  of  British 
merchants  who  had  formerly  lived  in  Detroit,  but  on  its  cession  to 
the  Americans  had  removed  to  Canada.  A  constant  intercourse  had 
always  been  kept  up,  and  they  joined  in  all  the  gaieties  of  the 
place. 

In  August,  1804,  Col.  Sproat  came  to  Detroit  to  take  his  daugh- 
ter home  to  visit  her  mother.  As  public  business  required  Mr.  Sib- 
ley's  attendance  at  Washington  during  the  winter,  it  was  arranged 
that  Mrs.  Sibley  should  return  with  her  father  to  Marietta,  and 
remain  until  the  following  spring.  Their  journey  was  made  on 
horseback.  The  whole  of  the  northern  part  of  Ohio  was  at  that 
time  a  dense  wilderness,  and  travellers  were  obliged  to  camp  out  at 
night.  Mrs.  Sibley  often  spoke  of  an  incident  which  occurred  on 
this  journey.  The  horse  she  rode  was  one  which  Col.  Sproat 
had  brought  on  expressly  for  his  daughter's  use,  and  was  a  great 
favorite.  He  was  unfortunately  taken  sick  on  the  way,  and  with 
difficulty  they  reached  a  spot  suitable  to  encamp  for  the  night. 
Everything  possible  was  done  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  animal,  but 
all  was  in  vain,  and  it  was  most  distressing  to  hear  his  groans  of 
agony.  The  woods  around  seemed  to  be  swarming  with  wolves 
attracted  by  the  cries  of  the  horse,  and  they  yelled  and  howled  like 
so  many  demons.  The  fires  around  the  camp  were  all  that  prevented 
them  from  rushing  upon  its '  inmates.  Mrs.  Sibley  said  she  never 
spent  such  a  fearful  night.  The  poor  horse  died  towards  morning, 


SARAH    SIBLEY.  219 

and  they  left  him  with  regret.  Their  journey  was  a  long  and 
fatiguing  one,  but  they  arrived  in  safety  at  Marietta. 

It  was  providentially  ordered  that  Mrs.  Sibley  should  spend  that 
winter  at  home,  for  she  was  thus  enabled  to  cheer  her  father's  last 
days  by  her  presence.  In  February,  without  any  previous  warning, 
he  was  attacked  by  apoplexy,  and  died  immediately.  He  was  yet 
in  the  prime  of  life,  being  only  fifty  years  old,  and  was  generally 
regretted.  His  death  was  a  heavy  affliction  to  his  daughter,  for  the 
tie  had  been  unusually  strong  that  existed  between  them ;  inheriting 
many  of  his  traits  of  character,  she  had  been  his  companion  and  had 
shared  with  him  many  daring  adventures.  He  had  almost  idolized 
her,  and  she  was  equally  devoted  to  him.  Col.  Sproat  had  many 
warm  friends  among  his  brother  officers.  The  family  still  have  in 
their  possession  a  miniature  of  him  painted  by  Kosciusko.  They 
were  intimate  friends,  and  it  was  taken  while  they  were  together  in 
winter-quarters  during  the  Revolution.  Burr,  on  his  first  visit  to 
Ohio,  is  said  to  have  shed  tears  over  the  grave  of  his  old  fellow- 
soldier. 

Mrs.  Sibley  remained  with  her  mother  until  the  following  sum- 
mer, her  husband  having  in  the  mean  time  returned  from  Washing- 
ton to  Detroit.  In  June,  1805,  that  city  was  entirely  destroyed  by 
fire.  An  extract  from  a  letter  written  at  that  time  by  Mr.  Sibley  to 
his  wife,  will  give  an  idea  of  the  loss  of  property  and  the  suffering 
that  ensued.  "June  16, — We  are  all,  without  a  single  exception, 
unhoused.  The  town  of  Detroit  was  on  the  llth  inst.  in  the  courso 
of  three  hours  reduced  to  ashes.  You  can  readily  conceive  the 
consternation  and  Consequent  confusion  that  prevailed.  Much  per- 
sonal property,  household  furniture  and  merchandize  fell  a  sacrifice 
to  the  devouring  element.  I  had,  from  my  situation,  the  good  for- 
tune to  save  our  property  from  the  fire,  but  from  the  bustle  that 
prevailed,  and  the  thefts  committed,  I  have  suffered  considerably. 
We  have  been  exerting  ourselves  since  the  fire  to  relieve  the  distres- 
sed. They  are  numerous,  and  demand  every  exertion  we  can  make 
in  their  favor.  The  houses  up  and  down  the  settlement  are  full, 
and  for  want  of  room  many  families  still  remain  encamped  in  the 


220  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

open  air.  The  gentlemen  from  the  other  side  have  been  liberal  in 
furnishing  provisions,  which  are  still  much  wanted. 

"  My  own  loss,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  citizens  in  general,  is  so 
trifling  that  I  have  scarcely  thought  seriously  upon  the  subject.  The 
want  of  a  house,  added  to  the  entire  suspension  of  business,  is 
the  greatest  inconvenience  I  experience.  I  believe  the  present  scene 
presents  a  phenomenon  rarely  to  be  met  with  ;  a  whole  town  burned 
with  the  exception  of  a  single  dwelling-house  standing.  What 
measures  will  be  adopted  in  rebuilding  Detroit  it  is  yet  uncertain. 
A  number  of  us  are  exerting  ourselves  in  order  that  we  may  procure 
more  room  by  widening  the  streets.  A  meeting  will  be  held  at  Mr. 
May's  to-morrow,  when  the  subject  will  be  discussed  ;  the  result 
will  be  uncertain.  What  a  gloomy  prospect  for  our  Governor,  etc., 
when  they  arrive !  Not  a  single  house  for  his  reception  or  accommo- 
dation. Our  country  was  sufficiently  poor  before  the  late  disaster — 
what  will  become  of  a  number  of  poor  persons  I  know  not,  unless 
some  benevolent  aid  is  offered  from  abroad.  This  last  resource  ap- 
pears doubtful.  We  are  not  known  in  the  States,  therefore  we  havo 
but  little  expectation  that  they  will  interest  themselves  for  our 
relief." 

Mr.  Sibley  fitted  up  an  old  house  which  was  then  considered 
quite  a  distance  from  town,  a  large  open  common  intervening ;  situ- 
ated on  the  square  opposite  "  the  Biddle  House,"  now  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  city.  He  occupied  the  same  house  until  1835,  a  period 
of  thirty  years.  As  soon  as  it  was  rendered  comfortable  he  went  to 
Marietta  for  his  wife.  Michigan  had  only  lately  been  organized  into 
a  territory,  and  upon  the  arrival  of  the  newly  appointed  governor, 
Gen.  Hull,  Detroit  was  a  perfect  scene  of  desolation.  He  was 
obliged  to  build  a  house  immediately,  for  there  was  not  one  for  him 
to  live  in.  The  house  he  erected  was  considered  a  splendid  one  at 
that  time,  and  was  the  same  afterwards  known  as  the  American 
Hotel,  which  was  burned  in  the  fire  of  1848.  On  Mrs.  Sibley's 
return,  she  again  travelled  on  horseback,  but  only  as  far  as  San- 
dusky,  from  which  place  they  came  in  a  vessel. 

But  few  events  worthy  of  note  occurred  during  the  interval  be- 


SATCAH   STBLEY.  221 

tween  her  return  and  the  war  of  1812.  She  was  then  the  mother 
of  three  children,  and  for  their  sake,  even  more  than  for  her  own, 
looked  forward  with  dread  to  the  prospect  of  another  war.  The 
events  of  that  war,  as  connected  with  Detroit,  are  too  well  known 
to  require  a  repetition  here.  Although  exposed  to  so  much  danger, 
Mrs.  Sibley  remained  with  her  husband,  and  in  all  the  trials  and 
horrors  of  that  eventful  time,  bore  herself  most  courageously. 

At  the  time  an  attack  upon  the  town  was  expected,  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  place  the  women  and  children  for  greater  secu- 
rity within  the  fort.  During  the  terrible  day  of  the  cannonade, 
Mrs.  Sibley  said  that  not  one  woman  gave  way  to  fear;  that  she 
never  saw  so  much  courage  displayed.  All  seemed  nerved  by  the 
exigencies  of  the  time,  and  by  the  very  danger  to  which  they  were 
exposed.  They  busied  themselves  in  giving  the  only  assistance  in. 
their  power,  making  cartridges,  and  scraping  lint  for  the  wounded. 
Som4  dreadful  scenes  occurred  on  that  day.  In  the  room  adjoining 
that  in  which  the  ladies  were  collected,  four  officers  were  shot  by  one 
ball.  One  of  these  was  Mr.  Sibley's  cousin.  When  the  news  was 
announced  of  the  surrender,  the  feeling  of  regret  and  indignation 
expressed  was  intense.  They  were  all  prepared  for  danger,  but  not 
for  disgrace.  As  the  American  soldiers  were  marched  out  of  the 
fort,  Mrs.  Dyson,  the  wife  of  an  officer,  collected  all  the  clothing  under 
the  charge  of  the  commissary,  and  threw  it  out  of  a  window  to  the 
soldiers  as  they  passed  by,  declaring  that  the  British  should  not 
benefit  by  it. 

After  the  surrender,  Mr.  Sibley  applied  to  Gen.  Proctor  for  per- 
mission to  go  on  with  his  family  to  Ohio.  It  was  denied  at  first, 
but  afterwards  granted,  giving  him  only  two  days  to  make  his  pre- 
parations. Thus  hastily  they  left  their  home,  to  remain  until  hap- 
pier times.  The  vessel  in  which  they  embarked  was  a  very  small 
one,  and  exceedingly  crowded,  but  there  was  no  alternative ;  and 
with  heavy  hearts  they  sailed  for  Erie.  They  remained  with  Mrs. 
Sibley's  friends  a  year.  As  soon  as  Detroit  was  given  up  to  the 
Americans  they  started  on  their  return,  but  when  they  reached 
Cleveland  found  that  it  was  rather  late  in  the  season,  the  few  vessels 


222  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

then  on  the  lake  being  laid  up  for  the  winter ;  and  as  it  was  impos- 
sible to  go  by  land  with  a  family  of  children  they  were  obliged  to 
remain  there  all  winter.  Cleveland  was  then  but  a  small  settlement, 
and  separated  by  a  dense  wilderness  from  the  southern  towns  of 
Ohio.  During  the  time  the  lake  was  closed,  the  transportation  of 
all  articles  was  attended  with  great  difficulty  and  expense,  conse- 
quently every  thing  was  enormously  high.  Mr.  Sibley  had  ex- 
pected to  reach  home  before  the  winter,  and  was  little  prepared 
for  such  a  detention.  He  had  lost  greatly  by  the  war,  and  the  utter 
cessation  of  all  business  for  such  a  length  of  time  with  one  who 
depended  upon  his  profession  for  the  support  of  his  family,  had  so 
crippled  his  means  that  his  inability  to  proceed  homeward  was  ex- 
cessively inconvenient  to  him.  The  family  was  treated  with  much 
kindness,  but  had  to  submit  to  great  privation  and  discomfort,  and 
they  were  heartily  glad  when  the  return  of  spring  allowed  them  to 

return  to  Detroit. 

• 

Mrs.  Sibley  made  but  one  more  visit  to  Ohio,  and  that  was  in 
1819.  She  then  received  intelligence  of  the  deaths,  within  a  short 

o  / 

time  of  each  other,  of  her  aged  grandparents,  the  venerable  old 
Commodore  and  Mrs.  Whipple.  Mrs.  Sproat  being  thus  left  en- 
tirely alone,  as  she  had  no  other  relatives  in  the  west,  she  wrote 
to  her  daughter  that  if  she  could  oome  for  her  she  would  return 
with  her  to  Michigan. 

Mrs.  Sibley  did  not  hesitate,  but  leaving  her  family  under  the 
charge  of  a  faithful  servant,  set  out  on  her  journey.  She  went 
under  the  care  of  a  gentleman  from  Detroit,  and  to  save  fatigue 
went  as  far  as  San  dusky  in  the  new  steamboat,  "Walk  in  the 
"Water,"  the  first  steamboat  that  ever  ran  on  Lake  Erie. 

They  sent  their  horses  by  a  servant  to  meet  them  at  Sandusky. 
This  journey  to  Marietta  was  the  last  ever  taken  by  Mrs.  Sibley  on 
horseback.  She  remained  in  Ohio  only  long  enough  to  complete 
the  preparations  for  Mrs.  Sproat's  removal.  They  returned  by  stage, 
as  Mrs.- Sproat  was  too  old  to  undertake  the  journey  on  horseback. 
Mrs.  Sproat  remained  with  her  daughter  until  her  death,  which 
took  place  in  1832. 


SARAH    SIBLEY.  223 

The  most  eventful  part  of  Mrs.  Sibley's  life  was  now  past.  Henco- 
forth  her  time  was  principally  occupied  with  the  duties  incumbent 
upon  a  wife  and  mother,  and  these  were  well  and  faithfully  per- 
formed. A  large  family  grew  up  around  her,  in  whose  minds  it 
was  ever  her  constant  endeavor  to  instil  such  high  principles  as 
should  make  them  true  to  themselves  and  useful  members  of  society. 
To  her  most  truly  could  the  scriptural  passage  be  applied,  "  Her 
children  shall  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed." 

It  is  difficult  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  actual  condition 
of  this  portion  of  the  great  Mississippi  valley  in  its  transition  state, 
or  the  important  part  in  the  formation  of  its  daily  life  that  fell  to  the 
lot  of  a  pioneer  matron.  Of  all  these,  there  was  not  one  better  fitted 
by  nature  and  education  for  the  time  and  place  than  this  noble 
woman.  Blessed  with  a  commanding  person,  a  vigorous  and  culti- 
vated intellect,  undaunted  courage,  and  an  intuitive  and  clear  percep- 
tion of  right  and  wrong,  she  exercised  great  influence  upon  the 
society  in  which  she  lived.  Affectionate  in  disposition,  frank  in 
manner,  and  truly  just  as  well  as  benevolent,  she  was  during  her 
whole  married  life  the  centre  of  an  admiring  circle  of  devoted  friends. 
As  age  crept  on,  and  disease  confined  her  to  the  fireside,  she  still 
remained  the  object  of  profound  and  marked  respect  to  the  people 
of  the  city  which  had  grown  up  around  her,  and  when  at  length  she 
was  "  gathered  to  her  fathers,"  she  died,  as  she  had  always  lived, 
without  one  to  cast  a  reproach  upon  her  elevated  and  beautiful 
character. 

A  revolution  like  that  of  1776 — the  surrender  upon  the  altar  of 
their  country  of  the  fortunes  of  the  brave  men  who  led  the  way  to 
freedom — the  poverty  of  the  government  and  its  consequent  inability 
to  repay  these  losses — the  resulting  necessity  of  making  a  home 
among  the  savages  of  a  great  wilderness,  and  reducing  that  wilder- 
ness to  a  state  of  law,  order,  and  refinement ;  these  were  circum- 
stances well  fitted  to  develope  the  strong  traits  of  character  in  the 
men  and  women  of  the  great  West.  They  cannot  recur,  and 
therefore  we  cannot  expect  again  to  see  such  a  race.  They  have 
passed  away,  and  henceforward  we  may  expect  what  has  always 


224:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

accompanied  an  age  of  refinement,  the  softening  down  of  strong 
points  of  character,  and  in  too  many  instances,  enervation  and 
effeminacy. 

The  husband  of  this  honored  lady,  the  Hon.  Solomon  Sibley, 
was  for  many  years  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
territory  of  Michigan.  He  lived  to  be  not  only  the  last  relic  of  the 
ancient  bar  of  Michigan  proper,  dating  back  to  1798,  but  also  the 
last  remaining  link  connecting  the  profession  in  that  State  of  the 
present  day  with  that  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  of  which  he  was 
a  member  previous  to  his  removal  to  Detroit. 

lie  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  Virginia.  In  1797,  he  practised  law  with  his  friend  Judge 
Burnet,  of  Cincinnati.  In  1799,  having  removed  to  Detroit,  he  was 
elected  to  the  first  territorial  legislature  of  the  Northwest  Territory 
as  representative  for  the  county  of  Wayne,  which  then  embraced 
the  present  State  of  Michigan.  This  body  held  its  sessions  in  Cin- 
cinnati. In  the  records  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Ohio,  Judge 
Sibley  is  mentioned  as  "  among  the  most  talented  men  of  the 
House."  That  he  was  held  in  the  highest  estimation  by  his  fellow- 
citizens,  is  evinced  by  the  fact,  that  as  early  as  1802  the  electors  of 
the  town  of  Detroit  voted  him  the  freedom  of  the  corporation  "  for 
his  eminent  services  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  the  territory." 

In  the  uniform,  quiet,  and  unostentatious  devotion  of  his  time  and 
talents  to  the  interests  of  his  country,  Judge  Sibley  continued  to 
receive  marked  evidences  of  universal  respect  and  confidence,  till 
compelled  by  physical  infirmity  to  retire  from  public  life.  In  his 
public  relation  of  United  States  Commissioner — associated  with  Gen. 
Cass  to  negotiate  the  treaty  by  which  the  Indian  title  to  a  large  part 
of  the  peninsula  of  Michigan  was  extinguished;  as  delegate  repre- 
senting the  territory  of  Michigan  in  Congress ;  as  District  Attorney 
of  the  United  States,  and  as  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Michigan,  he  won,  as  he  well  merited,  the  affection,  respect  and 
entire  confidence  of  his  contemporaries  and  associates.  All  who 
were  acquainted  with  him  in  private  life  cherished  the  highest 
respect  and  veneration  for  the  character  he  had  so  justly  acquired 


SARAH    SIBLEY.  225 

and  sustained  during  a  long  and  well  spent  life.  In  all  private  rela- 
tions, lie  showed  himself  amiable,  pure,  and  true  to  the  various 
interests  confided  to  him ;  in  public  ones,  faithful,  upright,  and 
honorable ;  a  sound  and  able  lawyer,  an  impartial,  honest,  and  dis- 
criminating judge. 

For  several  years  before  his  death,  his  health  being  too  infirm  for 
public  duty,  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  enjoyments  of  a  happy  home, 
where,  surrounded  by  friends,  he  was  gathered  to  his  fathers, 
April  4th,  1846,  aged  seventy-seven.  The  members  of  the  bar  of 
Detroit,  and  officers  of  the  respective  courts  assembled  to  express 
their  regret,  and  esteem  for  his  noble  character,  and  wore  mourning 
for  the  usual  time. 


XIII. 

MARY    DUNLEVY. 

FEW  among  the  pioneer  mothers  presented  in  their  lives  a  more 
impressive  example  of  the  patient  perseverance,  courage,  and  energy 
of  character  which  distinguished  the  matrons  of  that  day,  than  the 
subject  of  the  present  brief  sketch.  The  materials  have  been  com- 
municated by  one  of  her  family,  whose  recollections  enable  him  to 
describe  much  of  her  experience  in  building  a  home  in  the  wilder- 
ness. 

Mary  Craig  was  of  Scottish  parentage,  and  was  born  on  the  voy- 
age from  Scotland  to  America,  about  the  year  1765.  The  family 
then  came  to  settle  in  New  York.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolutionary  struggle,  Mary  was  but  ten  years  old,  but  she  could 
understand  that  the  people  were  unjustly  oppressed,  and  her  feelings 
were  warmly  interested  in  favor  of  the  patriots.  Her  father  had  died 
soon  after  reaching  the  country,  and  she,  with  an  elder  sister  and  a 
younger  brother,  formed  the  little  family  under  her  mother's  care. 
Their  circumstances  were  comfortable,  though  they  were  not  wealthy, 
and  but  for  the  outbreak  of  war,  they  would  probably  have  remained 
together.  The  vicissitudes  and  dangers  to  which  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  were  subjected  by  the  approach  of  a  hostile  force,  and  the 
occupation  of  New  York  by  British  troops,  caused  no  little  alarm  to 
Mrs.  Craig  for  the  safety  of  herself  and  children  ;  she  had  few  friends 


MARY   DUNLEVY.  227 

in  the  strange  land,  and  it  therefore  can  hardly  be  wondered  at  that, 
renewing  acquaintance  with  a  gentleman  whom  she  had  known  in 
Scotland — now  an  officer  in  the  British  navy — she  listened  favorably 
to  his  addresses,  and  finally  married  him.  Her  husband,  of  course, 
was  a  loyalist,  and  Mary  had  by  this  time  become  so  thoroughly 
imbued  with  republican  principles,  that  no  kindness  on  the  part  of 
her  stepfather  could  reconcile  her  to  the  restraints  to  which  she  was 
subjected  in  the  family,  in  the  expression  of  political  opinions.  It 
was  not  long  before  she  left  her  home  in  the  city,  and  went  to  reside 
at  the  house  of  Dr.  Halstead,  in  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey.  This 
proved  to  be  a  final  separation  from  the  other  members  of  her  family. 
Her  sister  soon  after  married  an  Englishman,  and  went  to  England  ; 
and  when  New  York  was  evacuated  by  the  British,  her  stepfather, 
with  her  mother,  brother,  and  an  infant  half-sister,  went  with  other 
refugees  to  Nova  Scotia,  Mary  bore  her  part,  meanwhile,  in  the 
apprehension  and  dangers  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  Elizabethtown 
were  exposed  during  the  war  from  the  frequent  incursions  of  the 
enemy.  She  repeatedly  risked  her  life  in  endeavors  to  save  the 
property  of  her  friends  from  destruction,  which  she  would  do  by 
earnest  appeals  to  the  invaders,  trusting  that  her  youth  would  ensure 
her  own  safety.  On  one  occasion  a  sword  was  drawn  upon  her, 
with  a  threat  that  she  should  be  killed  if  she  did  not  leave  the  room  ; 
but  she  persisted,  and  finally  saved  the  property  threatened.  She 
was  often  occupied  during  the  whole  day  or  night  in  running  bullets, 
or  in  attendance  upon  the  wounded  or  dying.  When  the  better 
time  arrived,  she  witnessed  the  triumphal  march  of  Gen.  Washington 
on  his  way  to  New  York,  being  one  of  a  number  of  young  girls  who 
strewed  the  road  with  flowers  as  he  passed.  The  disasters  of  a 
tedious  war  were  soon  forgotten  in  rejoicings  for  the  establishment  of 
liberty  and  peace  ;  but  for  Mary  the  anxious  part  of  life's  drama  was 
but  just  commenced.  In  1787  she  was  married  to  James  Carpenter. 
The  Northwest  Territory,  and  especially  the  Miami  country,  was  at 
that  time  much  talked  about,  considerable  excitement  prevailing  on 
the  subject  of  emigration  to  the  West,  and  Carpenter  had  recently 
returned  from  a  visit  of  exploration  to  the  Miami  purchase  in  com- 


228  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

pany  with  Judge  Symmes  and  others.  He  was  so  much  pleased 
with  the  new  country  that  he  determined  to  settle  there,  and  Mary's 
inclination  corresponded  to  his  own.  They  left  New  Jersey  with  the 
first  little  colony  of  Judge  Symmes,  reached  Limestone,  now  Mays- 
ville,  Kentucky,  late  in  the  autumn  of  1788,  and  the  men,  and  a 
few  of  the  stronger  among  the  women,  immediately  repaired  to 
Columbia,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Miami,  five  miles  above  the 
site  of  Cincinnati.  Here  they  commenced  building  a  log  fort  and 
cabins  for  the  different  families  of  the  settlers,  and  laying  out  fields 
and  gardens  for  cultivation  the  next  spring,  while  the  feebler  mem- 
bers of  the  company  remained  in  Kentucky  during  the  winter. 

In  the  spring,  the  fort  being  completed,  all  the  settlers  took  up 
their  residence  at  the  locality  selected.  The  families  occupied  the 
cabins  built  for  them,  but  whenever  there  was  an  alarm  of  the  ap- 
proach of  hostile  Indians,  they  fled  to  the  garrison,  which  was  de- 
fended with  all  the  strength  of  the  colony,  and  the  enemy  chased 
away  when  not  in  large  parties.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  utmost 
precaution,  the  steal Jhy  marauders  sometimes  succeeded  in  carrying 
off  property  and  capturing  prisoners,  and  even  in  killing  several  per- 
sons in  the  settlement.  Mary,  whose  childhood  had  been  familiar 
with  the  terrors  of  civil  war,  and  whose  heart  was  stout  and  resolute, 
was  to  be  tried  by  the  severest  of  sorrows.  Carpenter's  arduous 
labors  during  the  first  winter  and  spring  in  clearing  the  ground  and 
assisting  to  raise  the  buildings,  had  caused  a  hemorrhage  of  the 
lungs,  the  effects  of  which  brought  on  a  decline,  terminating  in  his 
death  in  less  than  two  years.  Mary  was  thus  left  with  two  young 
children,  without  a  relative  to  protect  her,  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness, 
surrounded  by  savage  foes  ;  but  her  courage  and  resolution  did  not 
falter  under  accumulated  trials.  She  knew  that  her  children  had  no 
dependence  except  on  her  care  and  labors,  and  trusting  in  the  Pro- 
vidence whose  kindness  watches  over  the  widow  and  the  fatherless, 
she  determined  to  lean,  with  her  helpless  babes,  on  His  protection  and 
guidance,  and  perform  with  untiring  energy  the  duties  that  lay  be- 
fore her.  She  was  urged  to  take  up  her  residence  in  the  fort,  as 
she  could  not  otherwise  be  safe  from  the  frequent  assaults  of  the 


MARY    DUNLEVY.  229 

savages  ;  but  she  persisted  in  remaining  in  her  cabin,  notwithstand- 
ing the  remonstrances  of  her  neighbors,  and  although  her  home  was 
several  hundred  yards  from  the  blockhouse.  Her  wounded  heart 
preferred  solitude  to  society ;  the  more  so  as  in  the  promiscuous 
company  frequently  assembled  in  the  garrison,  the  rough  oaths  of 
the  soldiers  might  frequently  be  heard,  and  she  resolved  to  risk  liv- 
ing alone,  rather  than  be  distressed  by  associations  repulsive  to  her 
delicate  and  sensitive  nature.  At  the  same .  time  she  planned  the 
measures  she  would  take  in  the  event  of  danger,  leaving  the  result 
with  Him  in  whom  her  trust  was  placed.  Beneath  the  puncheon 
lloor  laid  in  every  cabin,  there  was  generally  dug  a  small  cellar  in 
which  vegetables  might  be  kept  secure  from  frost.  Every  night  she 
lifted  one  of  these  pieces  of  timber,  and  placed  her  children  in  a  rough 
bed  she  had  made  in  the  cellar.  As  soon  as  they  were  asleep,  the 
puncheon  was  laid  down,  and  the  mother  took  her  position  where 
she  could  see  the  Indians,  when  approaching,  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, Here  she  would  sit  during  the  whole  night,  engaged,  in  the 
hours  of  wakefulness,  in  knitting  or  such  housework  as  could  be 
performed  without  any  other  light  than  from  smothered  embers  not 
permitted  to  give  out  the  slightest  blaze.  When  the  youngest  child 
waked  and  required  nursing,  she  would  lift  the  puncheon,  and  sit 
on  the  edge  of  the  opened  floor  till  it  was  lulled  to  sleep,  then  de- 
posit it  once  more  in  the  secret  bed  and  close  the  floor  over  it.  Her 
resolution  was  taken,  should  the  Indians  attack  one  door,  to  make 
her  escape  by  the  opposite  one  to  the  fort,  give  the  alarm,  and  bring 
the  men  to  rescue  her  children  before  the  foe  could  discover  their 
hiding-place.  Her  fears  were  not  groundless ;  the  Indians  were 
often  seen  by  her  prowling  about  the  little  village,  and  on  several 
occasions,  when  all  was  dark  and  still,  they  came  to  the  door  of  her 
cabin,  and  attempted  to  enter.  Finding  the  door  barred,  however, 
they  did  not,  for  some  reason  or  other,  attempt  to  force  it ;  so  that 
the  widow  and  her  children  remained  undisturbed,  while  from  other 
parts  of  the  settlement  property  was  stolen  and  prisoners  taken,  and 
one  or  two  individuals  were  shot  in  close  vicinity  to  the  fort. 

The  emigrants  who  established  themselves  at  Columbia,  were  men 


230  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST. 

of  energy  and  enterprise,  and  the  little  settlement  for  two  or  three 
years  contained  more  inhabitants  than  any  other  in  the  Miami  pur- 
chase. The  second  party  destined  for  the  Miami,  was  formed  at 
Limestone  ;  they  landed  the  24th  of  December,  1788,  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Ohio,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Licking  river,  and  laid  out 
a  town,  to  which  the  name  of  Cincinnati  was  given  the  following 
year.  The  third  party  of  adventurers  to  the  purchase,  under  the 
immediate  direction  of.  Judge  Symmes,  established  a  station  at 
*  North  Bend,'  the  most  northern  bend  in  the  Ohio  below  the  mouth 
of  the  great  Kanawha.  The  village  has  since  become  distinguished 
as  the  home  of  President  Harrison,  whose  tomb,  on  one  of  its  hills, 
can  be  seen  from  the  river. 

These  three  principal  settlements  of  the  Miami  countiy  had  one 
general  object,  and  were  threatened  by  one  common  danger  ;  yet,  says 
Judge  Burnet,  there  existed  a  strong  spirit  of  rivalry  among  them, 
"  each  feeling  a  pride  in  the  prosperity  of  the  little  colony  to  which 
he  belonged.  That  spirit  produced  a  strong  influence  on  the  feelings 
of  the  pioneers  of  the  different  villages,  and  an  esprit  du  corps 
scarcely  to  be  expected  under  circumstances  so  critical  and  dangerous 
as  those  which  threatened  them.  For  some  time,  it  was  matter  of 
doubt  which  of  the  rivals,  Columbia,  Cincinnati,  or  North  Bend, 
would  eventually  become  the  chief  seat  of  business."  The  establish- 
ment of  the  garrison  at  Cincinnati,  made  it  the  head-quarters  and 
depot  of  the  army.  Fort  Washington  was  the  most  extensive  and 
important  military  work  in  the  territory.  It  was  said  that  the 
removal  of  the  troops  from  the  Bend,  which  was  strenuously  opposed 
by  Judge  Symmes,  was  caused  by  an  attachment  on  the  part  of  the 
officer  in  command,  to  a  beautiful  woman,  whose  departure  to 
reside  in  Cincinnati  opened  the  eyes  of  her  admirer  to  its  advantages 
for  a  military  post,  and  thus  made  it  the  commercial  emporium  and 
the  Queen  City  of  the  West. 

I  shall  not  hesitate  to  offer,  in  different  memoirs,  descriptions  of 
pioneer  life  furnished  by  individuals  whose  recollections  are  entirely 
reliable.  Although  these  may  involve  occasional  repetition,  they 
will  enable  us  to  perceive  any  difference  of  habits  or  manners  in 


MARY   DUNLEVY.  231 

different  parts  of  the  country,  and  to  appreciate  more  fully  the  spirit 
of  enterprise  and  power  of  endurance  which  made  the  way  so  r%uch 
easier  to  those  who  succeeded  the  early  colonists.  The  densely  wooded 
mountain  ranges  were  a  formidable  barrier  at  that  period  between 
the  old  States  and  the  new  territories.  The  difficulties  attending  any 
communication  can  hardly  be  imagined  by  those  who  enjoy  the  facili- 
ties of  travelling  now,  and  made  the  work  of  the  pioneer  more  arduous 
and  hazardous  than  in  more  recent  settlements,  where  the  emigrant 
has  the  advantage  of  public  conveyances,  at  least  part  of  the  way, 
and  may  find  the  necessaries  of  life  within  a  distance  readily 
accessible.  It  was  no  small  undertaking  to  penetrate  the  un- 
broken forest,  ascend  or  descend  rivers  that  had  never  before  been 
navigated,  and  carry  to  a  home  in  the  wilderness  supplies  for  a 
household  in  a  few  chests.  These  usually  held  the  clothing  of  the 
pioneer's  family,  while  a  few  cooking  utensils  were  added  to  the 
stock,  and  occasionally  a  table  or  bureau ;  though  for  such  articles 
of  furniture,  as  well  as  chairs  and  bedsteads,  the  settlers  generally 
depended  on  the  rough  manufacture  of  the  country.  Shelves  hewn 
by  the  axe  supplied  the  place  of  bureaus  and  wardrobes,  and  two 
poles  fastened  in  a  corner  of  the  cabin,  the  outer  corner  supported 
by  a  prop,  answered  the  purpose  of  a  bedstead,  until  better  could  be 
had.  The  pioneer's  cabin  was  indeed  a  complete  example  of 
domestic  economy.  It  was  built  of  unhewn  logs,  sometimes  in  a 
single  day,  by  the  owner  and  eight  or  ten  of  the  neighbors,  who 
never  refused  their  assistance.  The  floor  was  made  of  split  slabs  or 
puncheons,  as  they  were  called,  dubbed  with  an  adze,  or  where  the 
resident  was  over  nice,  smoothed  with  the  broad-axe  on  the  upper 
side.  The  doors  were  made  of  boards  riven  from  a  tree  of  the 
proper  length  and  thickness,  and  smoothed  with  a  drawing-knife. 
The  windows,  in  the  earliest  settlements,  were  made  by.  cutting 
away  the  under  and  upper  portions  of  two  of  the  logs  of  the  house, 
forming  thus  a  square  opening  of  suitable  size,  in  which  sometimes 
upright  sticks  were  placed,  covered  with  white  paper,  oiled  with  hog's 
fat  or  bear's  oil,  to  admit  the  light  in  place  of  glass,  a  luxury  not 
then  to  be  procured.  The  fire-place  was  usually  very  large,  built 


232  PIONEEK   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

up  on  three  sides  six  or  eight  feet  with  stone,  and  then  topped  with 
"<£t  and  clay,"  as  it  was  termed.  The  cabin  completed,  the  next 
thing  was  to  clear  a  piece  of  ground  for  a  cornpatch.  A  shovel- 
plow  was  generally  used,  as  most  convenient  among  the  roots.  The 
harness  consisted  mostly  of  leatherwood  bark,  except  the  collar, 
which  was  made  of  husks  of  corn  plaited  and  sewed  together. 

Kough  and  uncouth  in  appearance  as  were  these  primitive  cabins, 
they  could  be  made  very  comfortable,  and  for  health  seemed  pre- 
ferable to  many  more  civilized  dwellings.  One  of  them,  sometimes 
containing  but  a  single  room,  with  a  rude  loft  reached  by  a  ladder, 
was  the  happy  home  of  a  numerous  household ;  the  children  raised 
there  growing  up  to  usefulness  and  eminence  among  their  fellow 
citizens.  The  children  thus  raised  were  generally  of  powerful  frame, 
and  possessed  great  physical  strength  ;  their  height  and  proportions, 
it  is  said,  being  known,  as  a  rule,  to  surpass  those  born  after  the  erec- 
tion of  frame  and  brick  dwellings.  Sickness  also  was  rare  among 

o  o 

them. 

It  is  true  that  these  rude  habitations  had  some  inconveniences, 
which  might  now  be  considered  too  formidable  to  contend  with ; 
and  it  may  be  thought  strange  how  a  female  of  cultivation  and 
refinement  could  bring  herself  to  live  in  one  of  them.  Yet  it  is 
certain,  that  among  the  early  pioneers  who  came  to  the  Miami 
country,  were  some  ladies  of  the  highest  consideration  in  New  York 
and  New  Jersey ;  and  it  is  no  less  certain  that  they  readily  and 
cheerfully  accommodated  themselves  to  the  condition  of  things 
around  them.  The  dressing-room  and  ornamental  toilette  were 
lacking;  but  they  were  dispensed  with  for  such  accommodations 
as  necessity  suggested.  Each  cabin  usually  contained  two  beds  in 
the  lower  room,  and  these  were  separated  from  each  other  by  full 
and  flowing  curtains  around  one  at  least,  answering  the  purpose  of 
a  partition  and  dressing  apartment. 

The  women  of  those  times,  it  has  been  often  observed,  were 
of  a  sturdier  nature  than  at  the  present  day,  and  encountered  both 
hardships  and  dangers  with  a  philosophy  and  a  grace  which  can 
now  be  hardlv  understood.  Most  of  them  undertook  the  labor  of 


. 

MARY    DUNLEVY.  233 

the  household  unassisted,  requiring  no  help  except  when  children 
were  born,  till  the  older  ones  grew  old  enough  to  be  useful.  There 
were  but  few  single  young  women  in  the  early  settlement ;  if  any 
came  with  friends  from  the  east,  they  were  very  soon  married  and 
had  their  own  household  affairs  to  attend  to.  In  the  summer,  be- 
sides the  ordinary  housework,  the  wife  of  the  pioneer  spun  the  wool 
which  formed  the  winter's  clothing  for  the  male  part  of  the  family, 
as  well  as  flannel  for  herself  and  the  girls ;  in  the  winter  was  spun 
the  flax  of  which  clothing  was  made  the  ensuing  summer.  The 
buzz  of  the  wheel,  therefore,  was  heard  at  all  seasons  in  the  cabins 
of  the  early  settlers,  and  often  in  the  winter  until  the  approach  of 
midnight.  Yet,  with  all  these  laborious  duties,  which  were  regularly 
and  faithfully  performed,  the  pioneer  mothers  found  time  to  arrange 
their  houses  with  the  most  scrupulous  order  and  neatness,  and  were 
not  without  their  social  enjoyments.  The  afternoons  of  the  long 
summer's  day  were  frequently  spent  in  visiting  or  receiving  visits 
from  neighbors  within  a  few  miles'  distance.  No  motive  could  ex- 
ist for  a  profession  of  friendship  where  the  reality  was  not  felt ;  and 
distress  in  any  family  never  failed  to  elicit  the  sympathy  and  com- 
mand the  aid,  so  far  as  it  could  be  rendered,  of  all  the  neighbors. 
Social  intercourse  was  intimate,  and  the  interchange  of  expressions 
of  good  feeling,  sincere  and  constant ;  and  never  could  one  familiar 
with  these  associations  forget  the  smooth  winding  foot  paths  which 
led  through  the  deep  forest  and  tall  grass  or  underbrush  from  the 
house  of  one  pioneer  to  that  of  another,  traversed  daily  on  errands 
of  business  or  friendship,  so  that  every  family  was  kept  acquainted 
with  all  the  occurrences  of  the  day  throughout  the  settlement.  If  a 
fat  bear  or  deer  was  killed  by  one  it  was  generally  divided,  and  the 
portions  sent  round  as  a  token  of  kindly  regard.  Game  was  abun- 
dant, and  the  turkeys,  venison  and  bear's  meat  which  so  frequently 
loaded  the  rustic  tables,  might  well  have  been  prized  by  the  most 
fastidious  epicures  of  advanced  civilization. 

On  the  whole  the  life  of  the  pioneer,  though  one  of  hardship  and 
danger,  was  one  of  stir  and  excitement,  and  a  perfect  freedom  so 
agreeable  to  the  enterprising  rover,  that  it  may  be  questioned 


234  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

whether  it  were  not,  for  him  at  least,  the  happiest  state  of  society. 
There  was  freshness  and  novelty  in  the  scenery  around  him  and  in 
the  adventurous  experience  of  every  day  ;  the  keen  invigorating  air 
of  the  wildwood,  and  the  constant  exercise  required,  gave  energy 
and  activity  to  body  and  mind,  and  sustained  and  exhilarated  the 
spirits ;  no  forms  or  ceremonious  customs  constrained  or  chilled  social 
manners,  and  no  jealousy  or  bitterness  could  arise  out  of  difference  in 
circumstances,  distinctions  growing  out  of  condition  being  entirely 
unknown  in  those  primitive  communities.  Good  faith  and  honesty 
in  business  transactions  were  taken  for  granted  on  both  sides,  and 
the  lack  of  them  would  have  been  punished  by  social  outlawry. 
The  general  prevalence  of  good  health  was  promoted  by  the  constant 
exposure  which  hardened  the  pioneers  to  the  sudden  changes  inci- 
dent to  a  severe  climate,  and  by  their  simplicity  of  diet.  The  cakes 
and  preserves  which  nowadays  take  up  so  much  of  the  attention  of 
housekeepers  in  preparing,  and  are  regarded  as  essential  articles  of 
provision  in  genteel  houses,  were  almost  unknown.  The  Kentucky 
"hoecake,"  or  the  "johnny"  or  "journey  cake,"  of  the  Miami  Valley, 
formed  the  favorite  winter  bread,  and  was  used  during  a  great  part 
of  the  spring  season.  The  corn  was  ground,  before  mills  were 
erected,  in  a  hand-mill,  or  pounded  in  a  hominy-block,  made  by 
burning  a  hole  in  one  end  of  a  block  of  wood,  the  corn  being 
pounded  with  a  pestle  made  by  driving  an  iron  wedge  into  a  stick 
of  suitable  size.  When  sufficiently  pounded,  it  was  sifted,  and 
the  finer  portion  made  into  bread  and  mush,  the  coarser  being 
boiled  for  hominy.  The  meat  was  bear,  venison,  and  wild  turkey, 
as  it  was  difficult  to  raise  hogs  or  sheep  on  account  of  the  wolves 
and  bears. 

The  amusements  of  the  men  were  such  as  developed  physical 
strength  and  animated  to  cheerfulness.  The  chase,  the  principal 
one,  served  the  purpose  of  an  exciting  and  healthy  exercise,  while  it 
furnished  provision  for  the  family.  The  women  of  course  took  no 
active  part  in  this  sport,  except  when  the  bear  hunt  roused  the  whole 
neighborhood,  young  and  old,  male  and  female,  to  partake  in  it  with 
intense  interest,  A  bear  chase  was  usually  commenced  by  the 


MARY   DUNLEVY.  235 

sounding  of  a  peculiar  note  on  the  horn,  which  reverberated  wildly 
among  the  hills  and  woods.  Presently  the  distant  howl  of  the 
hunter's  dogs  gave  notice  that  the  hunters  were  in  pursuit  of  the 
enemy.  Every  man  now  seized  his  rifle  and  mounted  his  horse  to 
join  the  chase,  while  those  who  could  not  do  this,  ran  to  see  what 
was  done.  Sometimes  the  pursuit  would  continue  all  day,  but  gene- 
rally it  happened  that  in  a  few  hours  the  bear  was  compelled  to 
"  tree,"  as  it  was  called.  As  soon  as  the  hunted  animal  had  thus 
taken  refuge,  the  hunter  who  chanced  to  be  nearest  the  spot,  sum- 
moned the  others  by  a  different  note  on  his  horn,  and  a  few  rifle 
shots  usually  either  brought  down  the  fugitive  dead,  or  forced  him 
to  descend  to  escape  the  shower  of  bullets.  When  the  bear  found 
it  necessary  to  leave  his  retreat,  his  practice  generally  was  to  roll 
himself  into  a  ball-like  shape  by  placing  his  head  between  his  hind 
legs,  and  throw  himself  from  the  height.  On  striking  the  ground 
he  would  rebound  several  feet,  and  the  instant  he  touched  the  ground 
again,  his  back  was  against  the  root  of  the  tree,  while,  raising  him- 
self on  his  hind  legs,  he  stood  in  an  attitude  of  defiance,  ready  to 
do  battle  with  the  dogs  who  by  that  time  were  collected  and  eager 
for  the  assault.  First  with  one  fore  paw  and  then  with  the  other 
the  bear  would  despatch  the  dogs  as  they  rushed  upon  him.  But 
though  he  could  hold  his  ground  thus  bravely,  it  was  not  usually 
long  before  the  fatal  shot  in  the  head  from  the  hunter's  rifle  would 
lay  the  victim  low,  and  end  the  chase  for  the  day.  The  meat  was 
then  divided  among  the  hunters,  and  they  returned  to  their  homes, 
weary  and  hungry,  and  perhaps  wet  with  the  falling  rain  or  snow. 
At  their  cabins  warm  fires  and  comfortable  suppers  awaited  them, 
and  the  incidents  of  the  day  afforded  material  for  pleasant  conversa- 
tion during  the  evening.  The  excitement  a  chase  of  this  kind  always 
caused  throughout  the  neighborhood  can  only  be  imagined  by  one 
who  has  witnessed  such  an  occurrence. 

The  wolf  made  havoc  with  the  few  sheep  introduced,  and  the  wild 
deer  ;  the  bear  confined  himself  to  hogs.  His  practice  was  to  spring 
suddenly  upon  his  victim,  grasp  him  in  his  fore  legs  with  irresistible 
force,  erect  himself  upon  his  hind  legs  like  a  man,  and  make  off 


236  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF  THE   WEST, 

in  an  instant  with  his  load ;  the  piercing  squeal  of  the  hog  being 
the  first  warning  to  the  owner.  A  large  bear,  meeting  with  no 
obstruction,  would  make  his  way  through  the  woods  in  this  manner, 
with  a  hog  of  good  size,  faster  than  a  man  on  foot  could  follow. 

The  establishment  of  schools  and  places  for  stated  religious  meet- 
ings was  coeval  with  the  formation  of  every  settlement,  or  at  least 
attended  to  as  soon  as  the  pioneers  had  secured  themselves  from  the 
savages  and  provided  their  families  with  the  means  of  daily  subsis- 
tence. The  schoolhouses,  like  the  primitive  cabins,  were  roughly 
constructed,  but  in  some  of  them  men  whose  mental  endowments 
and  ripe  scholarship  have  raised  them  to  eminence  in  after  life,  re- 
ceived the  first  rudiments  of  education.  It  happened  in  some 
neighborhoods,  it  is  true,  that  no  schools  were  established  ;  but  the 
evil  effects  of  such  neglect  were  discernible  long  afterwards,  and  in 
some  instances  the  want  of  general  intelligence  is  still  evident  in 
those  portions  of  the  country.  The  privilege  of  hearing  the  gospel 
preached  regularly  every  Sabbath,  could  not  often  be  enjoyed,  as 
different  and  distant  neighborhoods  had  to  be  supplied,  and  there 
were  but  few  pastors ;  but  service  was  held,  and  sermons  were  read 
when  no  clergyman  could  attend,  and  the  announcement  that  there 
was  to  be  preaching  would  bring  the  settlers  together  from  many 
miles  around.  The  strength  of  their  attachment  to  the  Sabbath 
services  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  were  not  prevented,  even 
when  threatened  with  Indian  incursions,  from  meeting  in  large  num- 
bers, to  hear  the  word  preached  whenever  an  opportunity  presented 
itself.  While  the  danger  was  imminent  it  was  usual  for  all 
the  men  to  carry  fire-arms  and  ammunition,  as  the  law  among 
them  required  every  one  to  do  ;  sentinels  being  placed  on  the  watch 
while  service  was  going  on.  It  was  not  till  after  the  peace  which 
followed  Wayne's  treaty  at  Greenville  that  the  necessity  for  carrying 
arms  to  religious  meetings  no  longer  existed,  and  in  the  outer  settle- 
ments the  custom  was  kept  up  for  some  years  after.  It  was  not  an 
unusual  sight  to  see  a  file  of  riflemen  with  their  shot  pouches,  and 
arms  at  rest,  stationed  around  the  large  congregations  which  in  warm 
weather  were  accustomed  to  assemble  in  the  woods  for  religious 


MAKY    DUNLEVY*  237 

worship.  When  the  necessity  for  this  strict  guard  became  less 
apparent,  and  the  Indians  had  removed  to  a  greater  distance,  these 
forest  assemblages  on  the  Sabbath  were  very  large,  different  neigh- 
borhoods gathering  in  one  place.  It  was  not  in  the  least  uncom- 
mon for  men  and  women  to  ride  on  horseback  eight  and  ten  miles 
to  meeting,  and  the  doing  so  was  far  from  being  considered  a  task  or 
hardship. 

One  of  the  first  schools  established  in  the  Northwestern  Territory 
was  in  the  settlement  where  Mrs.  Carpenter  lived.  The  young  man 
who  took  charge  of  it,  Francis  Dunlevy,  had  served  in  many  Indian 
campaigns,  having,  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen,  offered  himself  for 
military  service,  and  been  received  in  place  of  one  of  his  neighbors 
who  had  been  drafted,  but  who  had  a  family  dependent  on  him  for 
support,  and  was  unwilling  to  go.  This  was  in  1777,  and  from  that 
time  to  his  coming  to  Columbia,  he  had  been  on  service  in  occasional 
excursions  against  the  savages.  lie  served  at  the  time  of  the  disas- 
trous defeat  of  Crawford  at  the  Sandusky  Plains  in  1782,  and  after 
that  time  had  travelled  over  those  portions  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory which  now  constitute  Ohio.  Western  Virginia,  and  the  northern 
part  of  Kentucky.  He  was  not  only  a  man  of  great  courage,  spirit, 
and  enterprise,  but  of  such  industry  and  perseverance,  that  in  the 
midst  of  the  labors  and  vicissitudes  of  numerous  campaigns,  and  the 
privations  to  which  he  was  subject  in  a  forest  life,  he  employed  the 
intervals  of  leisure  from  military  occupations  in  study,  and  acquired 
a  classical  education. 

Having  made  up  his  mind  to  reside  for  the  future  in  the  North- 
west Territory,  he  came  to  Columbia  as  teacher  of  the  school  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  year  1792.  He  heard  the  story  of  Mrs.  Carpenter's 
trials,  and  the  fortitude  with  which  she  bore  them  ;  lie  sought  her 
acquaintance,  and  finding  in  her  a  kindred  spirit,  in  due  time  offered 
his  hand  and  was  accepted.  They  were  married  in  January,  1793. 
Mr.  Dunlevy  was  afterwards  a  highly  respected  member  of  the 
legislature  of  the  North-west  Territory,  and  of  the  convention  which 
formed  the  constitution  of  Ohio.  He  also  occupied,  for  fourteen 
years,  the  station  of  presiding  judge  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 


238  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

For  many  years  after  her  removal,  Mrs.  Dunlevy  heard  not  a  word 
from  any  member  of  her  mother's  family.  In  1804  she  received  a 
letter  from  her  brother,  directed  to  her  "in  the  Miami  country,"  by 
which  she  was  informed  of  her  mother's  death,  and  that  her  brother 
had  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  was  then  living  near  Lake 
Champlain.  In  1806?  her  sister  and  her  husband  came  from  Liver- 
pool to  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  finding  the  scattered  members 
of  the  family,  but  they  learned  on  their  arrival  that  the  brother  had 
died  the  same  year,  and  that  Mary  was  living  in  the  "  far  west."  A 
correspondence  was  held  between  the  sisters,  and  a  meeting  appointed 
at  Pittsburg,  the  elder  sister  insisting  that  she  could  not  venture  to 
encounter  the  dangers  of  entering  an  Indian  country,  as  she  con- 
sidered Western  Ohio ;  but  before  she  left  New  York  to  proceed 
that  far,  she  was  seized  with  yellow  fever  and  died. 

The  two  children  of  Mrs.  Dunlevy  by  her  first  marriage  attained 
to  womanhood  and  were  married.  Besides  these,  she  had  three  sons 
and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  lived  to  maturity.  The  mother's 
affection  for  her  children  was  one  which  absorbed  every  faculty  of 
her  nature.  With  a  resolution  that  to  the  last  would  never  givo 
way  before  difficulties,  she  was  delicate  and  susceptible  in  all  her 
feelings,  gentle,  retiring,  and  affectionate,  and  clinging  with  absolute 
dependence  to  those  in  whom  her  devoted  affections  were  centred. 
The  death  of  her  eldest  daughter,  therefore,  though  she  had  been 
married,  and  lived  at  a  distance  for  some  six  years,  was  a  blow  from 
which  she  never  recovered.  Her  life  was  afterwards  secluded,  and 
her  social  intercourse  entirely  confined  to  her  children.  A  second 
daughter  in  five  years  followed  the  first  to  the  grave,  and  four  years 
afterwards,  her  youngest  son  having  been  called  to  a  distant  part  of 
the  country,  was  attacked  by  sudden  illness  and  died  far  from  home. 
Under  these  accumulated  afflictions  the  spirit  which  had  never  fal- 
tered in  the  presence  of  danger,  nor  shrunk  from  trial  in  every  other 
form,  sank  in  the  prostration  of  grief.  Mrs.  Dunlevy 's  health  failed 
after  the  death  of  her  eldest  child,  and  slowly  declined  till  1828, 
when,  without  any  particular  disease,  but  a  gradual  failure  of  ner- 
vous energy,  she  departed  this  life,  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  in  the  sixty- 


PIONEER    CABIN.  239 

third  year  of  her  age.  Judge  Dunlevy  survived  her  nearly  twelve 
years,  and  was  laid  beside  her  in  the  burial-ground  of  the  Baptist 
church,  of  which  they  had  both  long  been  members. 


The  following  sketch  of  life  in  the  woods  is  extracted  from  an 
article  written  by  John  S.  Williams,  the  Editor  of  the  American 
Pioneer : 

"  Emigrants  poured  in  from  different  parts,  cabins  were  put  up 
in  every  direction,  and  women,  children  and  goods  tumbled  into 
them.  Every  thing  was  bustle  and  confusion,  and  all  at  work  that 
could  work.  Our  cabin  had  been  raised,  covered,  part  of  the  cracks 
chinked,  and  part  of  the  floor  laid  when  we  moved  in,  on  Christmas 
day !  We  had  intended  an  inside  chimney,  for  we  thought  the 
chimney  ought  to  be  in  the  house.  We  had  a  log  put  across  the 
whole  width  of  the  cabin  for  a  mantel,  but  when  the  floor  was  in  we 
found  it  so  low  as  not  to  answer,  and  removed  it.  We  got  the  rest 
of  the  floor  laid  in  a  very  few  days  ;  the  chinking  of  the  cracks  went 
on  slowly,  but  the  daubing  could  not  proceed  till  weather  more  suit- 
able, which  happened  in  a  few  days ;  door-ways  were  sawed  out 
and  steps  made  of  the  logs,  and  the  back  of  the  chimney  was  raised 
up  to  the  mantel,  but  the  funnel  of  sticks  and  clay  was  delayed  until 
spring. 

"  In  building  our  cabin  it  was  set  to  front  the  north  and  south,  my 
brother  using  my  father's  pocket  compass  on  the  occasion.  We  had 
no  idea  of  living  in  a  house  that  did  not  stand  square  with  the  earth 
itself.  This  argued  our  ignorance  of  the  comforts  and  conveniences 
of  a  pioneer  life.  The  position  of  the  house,  end  to  the  hill,  neces- 
sarily elevated  the  lower  end,  and  the  determination  to  have  both 
a  north  and  south  door,  added  much  to  the  airiness  of  the  domicile, 
particularly  after  the  green  ash  puncheons  had  shrunk  so  as  to  leaye 
cracks  in  the  floor  and  doors  from  one  to  two  inches  wide.  At  both 
the  doors  we  had  high,  unsteady,  and  sometimes  icy  steps,  made 
by  piling  up  the  log?  cut  out  of  the  wall.  We  had  a  window, 
if  it  could  be  called  a  window,  when  perhaps  it  was  the  largest  spot 
in  the  top,  bottom  or  sides  of  the  cabin  at  which  the  wind  could  not 


24:0  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF    THE   WEST. 

enter.  It  was  made  by  sawing  out  a  log,  placing  sticks  across ;  and 
by  pasting  an  old  newspaper  over  the  hole,  and  applying  some  hog's 
lard,  we  had  a  kind  of  glazing  which  shed  a  most  beautiful  and 
mellow  lio-ht  across  the  cabin  when  the  sun  shone  on  it.  All  other 

o 

light  entered  at  the  doors,  cracks  and  chimney. 

"  Our  cabin  was  twenty-four  by  eighteen.  The  west  end  was  oc- 
cupied by  two  beds,  the  centre  of  each  side  by  a  door,  and  here  our 
symmetry  had  to  stop,  for  opposite  the  window,  made  of  clapboards 
supported  on  pins  driven  into  the  logs,  were  our  shelves.  Upon 
these  shelves  my  sister  displayed  in  order  a  host  of  pewter  plates, 
basins,  dishes,  and  spoons,  scoured  and  bright.  A  ladder  of  five 
rounds  occupied  the  corner  near  the  window.  By  this,  when  we  got 
a  floor  above,  we  could  ascend.  Our  chimney  occupied  most  of  the 
east  end ;  pots  and  kettles  were  opposite  the  window  under  the  shelves, 
a  gun  on  hooks  over  the  north  door,  four  split-bottom  chairs,  three 
three-legged  stools,  and  a  small  eight  by  ten  looking-glass  sloped 
from  the  wall  over  a  large  towel  and  combcase.  These,  -with  a 
clumsy  shovel  and  a  pair  of  tongs  with  one  shank  straight,  com- 
pleted our  furniture,  except  a  spinning-wheel  and  such  things  as 
were  necessary  to  work  with.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  to  have 
three-legged  stools,  as  four  legs  of  any  thing  could  not  all  touch 
the  floor  at  the  same  time. 

"  The  completion  of  our  cabin  went  on  slowly.  The  season  was 
inclement,  and  laborers  were  not  to  be  had.  We  got  our  chimney 
up  breast  high  as  soon  as  we  could,  and  our  cabin  daubed  as  high 
as  the  joists  outside.  It  never  was  daubed  on  the  inside,  for  my 
sister,  who  was  very  nice,  could  not  consent  to  i  live  right  next  to 
the  mud.7  My  impression  now  is,  that  the  window  was  not  con- 
structed till  spring,  for  until  the  sticks  and  clay  were  put  on  the 
chimney  we  could  possibly  have  no  need  of  a  window ;  the  flood  of 
light  which  always  poured  into  the  cabin  from  the  fireplace  would 
have  extinguished  our  paper  window,  and  rendered  it  as  useless  as 
the  moon  at  noonday.  We  got  a  floor  laid  over  head  as  soon  as 
possible,  perhaps  in  a  month ;  but  when  it  was  laid,  the  reader  will 
readily  conceive  of  its  imoerviousness  to  wind  or  weather,  when  we 


LIFE  IN   THE   WOODS.  241 

mention  that  it  was  laid  of  loose  clapboards  split  from  a  red  oak, 
so  twisting  that  each  board  lay  on  two  diagonally  opposite  comers, 
and  a  cat  might  have  shaken  every  board  on  our  ceiling. 

"  The  evenings  of  the  first  winter  did  not  pass  off  as  pleasantly  as 
evenings  afterwards.  We  had  no  corn  to  shell,  no  turnips  to  scrape, 
no  tow  to  spin  into  rope-yarn,  nor  straw  to  plait  for  hats,  and  wo 
had  come  so  late  we  could  get  but  few  walnuts  to  crack.  We  had, 
however,  the  Bible,  George  Fox's  Journal,  Barkley's  Apology,  and 
to  our  stock  was  soon  after  added  a  borrowed  copy  of  the  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  which  we  read  twice  through  without  stopping.  The  first 
winter  our  living  was  truly  scanty  and  hard ;  but  even  this  winter 
had  its  felicities.  We  had  part  of  a  barrel  of  flour  which  we  had 
brought  from  Fredericktown.  Besides  this  we  had  a  part  of  a  jar 
of  hog's  lard  brought  from  old  Carolina  ;  not  the  tasteless  stuff  which 
now  goes  by  that  name,  but  pure  leaf  lard  taken  from  hogs  raised  on 
pine  roots  and  fattened  on  sweet  potatoes,  and  into  which,  while  try- 
ing, were  immersed  the  boughs  of  the  fragrant  bay  tree,  that  imparted 
to  the  lard  a  rich  flavor.  Of  that  flour,  shortened  with  this  lard, 
my  sister  every  Sunday  morning  made  short  biscuit  for  breakfast. 

"  The  winter  was  open,  but  windy.  While  the  wind  was  of  great 
use  in  driving  the  smoke  and  ashes  out  of  our  cabin,  it  shook  terribly 
the  timber  standing  almost  over  us.  We  were  sometimes  much 
and  needlessly,  alarmed.  We  were  surrounded  by  the  tall  giants  of 
the  forest,  waving  their  boughs  and  knitting  their  brows  over  us,  as  if 
in  defiance  of  our  disturbing  their  repose,  and  usurping  their  lonp. 
uncontested  pre-emption  rights.  The  beech  on  the  left  often 
snook  his  bushy  head  over  us  as  if  in  absolute  disapprobation  of  our 
settling  there,  threatening  to  crush  us  if  we  did  not  pack  up  and 
start.  The  walnut  over  the  spring  branch  stood  high  and  straight : 
no  one  could  tell  which  way  it  inclined,  but  all  concluded  that  if  it 
had  a  preference  it  was  in  favor  of  quartering  on  our  cabin.  We  got 
assistance  to  cut  it  down. 

"  The  monotony  of  the  time  for  several  of  the  first  years  was  en- 
livened by  the  howl  of  wild  beasts.  The  wolves  howling  around  us 
seemed  to  moan  their  inability  to  drive  us  from  their  long  and  un- 


242  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

disputed  domain.  The  bears,  panthers  and  deer  but  seldom  troubled 
us.  When  spring  was  fully  come  and  our  little  patch  of  corn,  three 
acres,  put  in  among  the  beech  roots,  which  at  every  step  contended 
with  the  shovel-plough  for  the  right  of  soil,  and  held  it  too,  we  en- 
larged our  stock  of  conveniences.  As  soon  as  bark  would  peel  off 
we  could  make  ropes  and  bark  boxes.  These  we  stood  in  great  need 
of,  as  such  things  as  bureaus,  stands,  wardrobes,  or  even  barrels  were 
not  to  be  had.  Sometimes  boxes  made  of  slippery  elm  bark,  shaved 
smooth,  and  the  inside  out,  were  ornamented  with  drawings  of  birds, 
trees,  etc. 

"  We  settled  on  beech  land,  which  took  much  labor  to  clear. 
We  could  do  no  better  than  clear  out  the  smaller  stuff  and  burn 
the  brush,  &c.,  around  the  beeches  which,  in  spite  of  the  girdling 
and  burning  we  could  do  to  them,  would  leaf  out  the  first  year, 
and  often  a  little  the  second.  The  land,  however,  was  very  rich, 
and  would  bring  better  corn  than  might  be  expected.  We  had  to 
tend  it  principally  with  the  hoe,  that  is,  to  chop  down  the  nettles^ 
the  water-weed,  and  the  touch-me-not.  Grass,  lamb's- quarter,  and 
Spanish-needles  were  reserved  to  pester  the  better  prepared  farmer. 
We  cleared  a  small  turnip  patch,  which  we  got  in  about  the  10th 
of  August.  We  sowed  timothy  seed,  which  took  well,  and  next 
year  we  had  a  little  hay  besides.  The  tops  and  blades  of  the  corn 
were  also  carefully  saved  for  our  horse,  cow,  and  the  two  sheep. 
The  turnips  were  sweet  and  good,  and  in  the  fall  we  took  care  to 
gather  walnuts  and  hickory  nuts,  which  were  very  abundant.  These, 
with  the  turnips  which  we  scraped,  supplied  the  place  of  fruit.  I 
have  always  been  partial  to  scraped  turnips,  and  could  now  beat  any 
three  dandies  at  scraping  them.  Johnny-cake,  also,  when  we  had 
meal  to  make  it  of,  helped  to  make  up  our  evening's  repast.  The 
Sunday  morning  biscuit  had  all  evaporated,  but  the  loss  was  partial- 
ly supplied  by  the  nuts  and  turnips.  Our  regular  supper  was 
mush  and  milk,  and  by  the  time  we  had  shelled  our  corn,  stemmed 
tobacco,  and  plaited  straw  to  make  hats,  etc.,  our  appetites  were 
sharp  again.  To  relieve  this  difficulty,  my  brother  and  I  would  bake 
a  thin  johnny-cake,  part  of  which  we  would  eat,  and  leave  the  rest  till 


LIFE   IN   THE   WOODS.  243 

morning.     At  daylight  we   would  eat  the  rest  as  we  walked  from 
the  house  to  work. 

"  The*  methods  of  eating  mush  and  milk  were  various.  Some 
would  sit  around  the  pot,  every  one  taking  therefrom  for  himself. 
Some  would  sit  at  table  and  have  each  his  tin  cup  of  milk,  with  a 
pewter  spoon,  taking  just  as  much  mush  from  the  dish  or  the  pot  as 
he  thought  would  fill  his  mouth,  then  lowering  it  into  the  milk  and 
taking  some  to  wash  it  down.  This  method  kept  the  milk  cool,  and 
by  frequent  repetitions  the  pioneer  would  contract  a  faculty  of  cor- 
rectly estimating  the  proper  amount  of  each.  Others  would  mix 
mush  and  milk  together. 

"  To  get  grinding  done  was  often  a  great  difficulty,  by  reason  of 
the  scarcity  of  mills,  the  freezing  in  winter  and  the  droughts  in 
summer.  We  had  often  to  manufacture  meal  in  any  way  we  could 
get  the  corn  to  pieces,  We  soaked  and  pounded  it,  we  shaved  it, 
we  planed  it,  and,  at  the  proper  season,  grated  it.  When  one  of 
our  neighbors  got  a  hand-mill,  it  was  thought  quite  an  acquisition 
to  the  neighborhood.  In  after  years,  when  we  could  get  grinding 
by  waiting  for  our  turn  no  more  than  one  day  and  a  night  at  a  horse- 
mill,  we  thought  ourselves  happy.  To  save  meal  we  often  made 
pumpkin  bread,  in  which,  when  meal  was  scarce,  the  pumpkin  would 
so  predominate  as  to  render  it  next  to  impossible  to  tell  our  bread 
from  that  article,  either  by  taste,  looks,  or  the  amount  of  nutriment 
it  contained.  Salt  was  five  dollars  per  bushel,  and  we  used  none  in 
our  corn  bread,  which  we  soon  liked  as  well  without  it.  What  meat 
we  had  at  first  was  fresh,  and  but  little  of  that,  for  had  we  been 
hunters  we  had  no  time  for  the  chase. 

"  We  had  no  candles,  and  cared  but  little  about  them  except  for 
summer  use.  My  business  was  to  ramble  the  woods  every  evening 
for  seasoned  sticks,  or  the  bark  of  the  shelly  hickory,  for  light.  Tis 
true  that  our  light  was  not  as  good  as  candles,  but  we  got  along 
without  fretting,  for  we  depended  more  upon  the  goodness  of  our 
eyes  than  we  did  upon  the  brilliancy  of  the  light." 

Howe  relates  an  anecdote  of  one  Henry  Perry,  who  in  the  fall  of 
1803,  after  getting  up  his  cabin  near  Delhi,  left  his  two  sons  and 


244  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

returned  to  Philadelphia  for  the  remainder  of  his  family,  but  finding 
his  wife  ill,  and  afterwards  being  ill  himself,  could  not  get  back  till 
the  next  June.  These  two  little  boys,  Levi  and  Reuben,  only 
eleven  and  nine  years  old,  remained  there  alone,  eight  months,  fif- 
teen miles  from  any  white  family,  and  surrounded  by  Indians,  with 
no  food  but  the  rabbits  they  could  catch  in  hollow  logs,  the  remain- 
der of  one  deer  that  the  wolves  killed  near  them,  and  a  little  corn 
meal  that  they  occasionally  obtained  of  Thomas  Cellar,  by  following 
down  the  "  Indian  trace."  The  winter  was  a  severe  one,  and  their 
cabin  was  open,  having  neither  daubing,  fire-place,  nor  chimney  ; 
they  had  no  gun,  and  were  wholly  unaccustomed  to  forest  life,  be- 
ing fresh  from  Wales,  and  yet  these  little  fellows  not  only  struggled 
through  but  actually  made  a  considerable  clearing !  Jacob  Fo  ?t» 
at  an  early  day,  when  his  wife  was  sick  and  could  obtain  nothing  to 
eat  that  she  relished,  procured  a  bushel  of  wheat,  and  throwing  it 
upon  his  shoulders,  carried  it  to  Zanesville  to  get  it  ground,  a  dis- 
tance of  more  than  seventy-five  miles  by  the  tortuous  path  he  had 
to  traverse,  and  then  shouldering  his  flour  retraced  his  steps  home, 
fording  the  streams  and  camping  out  nights." 

Dr.  Hildreth  says  that  for  many  years  after  the  first  settlement  of 
Ohio,  salt  had  to  be  brought  across  the  mountains  on  pack-horses. 
"  Those  immense  fountains  of  brine  that  now  are  known  to  exist 
deep  in  the  rocky  beds  below,  were  not  then  dreamed  of;  it  was 
supposed  that  the  west  would  always  be  dependent  on  the  Atlantic 
coast  for  salt,  and  deeply  deplored  as  a  serious  drawback  on  the  pros- 
perity of  this  beautiful  region.  Although  springs  of  salt  water  were 
known  in  various  places,  they  were  of  so  poor  and  weak  a  quality  as 
to  require  from  four  to  six  hundred  gallons  of  the  water  to  make  a 
bushel  of  salt ;  and  when  made,  it  contained  so  much  foreign  matter 
as  to  render  it  a  very  inferior  article.  Yet  as  it  could  be  used  in 
place  of  the  imported  salt,  and  saved  the  borderer's  money,  at  that 
day  not  very  plenty,  it  was  occasionally  resorted  to  by  the  settlers, 
who,  assembling  in  gangs  of  six  or  eight  persons,  with  their  domestic 
kettles,  pack-horses  and  provisions,  camped  out  for  a  week  at  a  time 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  saline.  These  springs  were  generally  discovered 
by  hunters,  and  were  at  remote  points  from  the  settlements." 


XIV. 

ANN    BAILEY. 

THE  account  of  the  first  settlement  of  Gallipolis,  Ohio,  forms  a  curious 
piece  of  pioneer  history.  When  the  disturbances  of  the  French 
Revolution  had  driven  many  families  from  their  native  country,  an 
office  was  opened  in  Paris  for  the  sale  of  American  lands  owned  by 
the  "  Scioto  Company,"  and  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Ohio 
river,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Scioto  in  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory. A  general  prospectus  was  issued,  setting  forth  that  the  com- 
pany owned  a  million  of  acres  ;  the  advantages  to  the  emigrant  and 
ultimate  value  of  the  land,  were  glowingly  painted,  and  hundreds 
rushed  to  the  agents  to  purchase  estates  which  might  be  acquired 
at  a  very  moderate  price.  Some  five  or  six  hundred  emigrants,  in- 
cluding doctors,  lawyers,  officers,  merchants,  manufacturers,  me- 
chanics, farmers,  gardeners,  etc.,  with  their  deeds  in  their  hands,  and 
eager  with  hope  and  expectation,  sailed  in  February,  1790,  from 
Havre  de  Grace,  five  ships  being  chartered  to  convey  them  to  Alex- 
andria, Virginia.  They  were  received  with  a  warm  and  hospitable 
welcome  by  the  inhabitants  of  that  town,  supplied  with  portions  of 
their  stores,  and  taught  all  that  was  necessary  to  learn  as  to  the 
manner  of  living  in  the  new  country.* 

#  This  account  is  abridged  from  one  prepared  by  Gen.  LEWIS  NEWSOM, 
one  of  the  early  residents  of  Gallipolis.  He  has  also  favored  me  with  notices 
of  Mrs.  Bailey's  life. 


24:6  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

From  a  correspondence  opened  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States,  the  emigrants  learned  that  the  Scioto  Com- 
pany had  failed  in  their  engagements  to  government,  and  that  the 
lands  purchased  from  the  Treasury  Board  had  rev.erted  and  been 
sold  in  1787  to  the  agents  for  the  directors  of  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany, pursuant  to  an  act  of  Congress  passed  the  July  preceding. 
This  was  the  first  knowledge  they  had  of  their  true  situation,  and 
the  imposition  practised  on  them.  A  general  meeting  was  called, 
and  a  committee  appointed  to  go  to  New  York  and  demand  indem- 
nification of  the  acting  agent  for  the  Scioto  Company,  while  another 
committee  was  to  appeal  to  President  Washington  for  a  redress  of 
theil1  grievances.  The  result  of  the  application  to  the  agent  of  the 
Scioto  Company  was  the  promise  that  other  lands  should  be  secured 
to  the  emigrants  in  fulfilment  of  the  engagements  entered  into,  and 
that  the  site  of  Gallipolis  should  be  surveyed  into  lots,  houses  erected, 
with  defences  against  the  Indians,  and  wagons  and  supplies  provided 
to  convey  the  colonists  to  Ohio.  Notwithstanding  this  flattering 
report  of  their  committee,  many  of  them  had  no  hope  that  the 
promises  would  be  fulfilled,  and  removed  to  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, and  elsewhere.  As  soon  as  wagons  could  be  procured,  the 
others  left  Alexandria  and  passed  through  Winchester  to  Browns- 
ville on  the  Monongahela,  where  they  were  detained,  as  boats  were 
not  in  readiness  to  proceed.  They  had  shanties  to  lodge  in,  but  the 
fall  rains  had  set  in,  and  they  suffered  many  privations.  Their 
voyage  further  was  not  a  pleasant  one,  the  river  being  low,  and 
shoals  frequent ;  but  after  a  weary  progress  they  reached  the  place 
of  destination,  in  October,  1790,  and  landed  with  great  joy.  Sur- 
veyors had  been  sent  to  lay  out  the  town,  and  workmen  to  build 
houses,  and  the  first  tree  had  been  cut  down  on  the  8th  of  June,  by 
Col.  Robert  SafFord.  Four  rows  of  twenty  cabins,  each  with  a  door, 
windows,  and  wooden  chimney,  were  put  up,  and  as  a  better  sort  of 
habitation  for  those  of  the  superior  class,  two  rows  of  huts  of  hewn 
logs,  a  story  and  a  half  in  height.  Block-houses  two  stories  high 
were  also  erected,  with  a  high  stockade  fence,  forming  a  sufficient 
fortification  against  attack.  In  one  of  the  better  cabins  was  a  room 


ANN    BAILEY.  24:7 

used  for  a  ball-room  and  council  chamber.  As  soon  as  the  quarters 
of  each  family  were  assigned,  their  massive  chests  were  opened  and 
relieved  of  the  ponderous  contents,  which  were  distributed  in  the 
community. 

T^iey  entered  upon  the  new  mode  of  life  with  cheerfulness  and  a 
social  spirit ;  they  had  soirees,  music,  and  dancing  regularly  ;  some 
had  mingled  in  the  higher  circles  abroad  and  had  cultivated  literary 
tastes,  and  there  were  scientific  men  who  had  spent  years  of  study 
in  the  first  European  institutions.  Few  of  them  had  ever  wielded 
an  axe,  but  they  did  not  shrink  from  severe  labor ;  they  cleared  the 
forest,  prepared  the  soil  for  cultivation,  and  soon  changed  the  wil- 
derness to  a  land  of  more  inviting  aspect.  A  corps  of  hunters 
brought  in  regular  supplies  of  game,  and  flour  and  grain  were  pro- 
cured from  Western  Pennsylvania.  From  the  commencement  of 
the  settlement  service  was  performed  by  a  Catholic  priest,  which  was 
regularly  attended  by  the  emigrants.  In  a  short  time  different 
branches  of  business  were  commenced,  retail  stores  opened,  and 
manufactures  offered  for  sale  and  carried  to  other  places. 

In  the  spring  of  1*791,  a  party  was  sent  out  to  explore  the  lands 
from  Gallipolis  to  the  confluence  of  the  Big  Scioto  with  the  Ohio. 
A  keel-boat  was  chartered  and  a  crew  obtained,  with  hunters,  spies, 
and  scouts,  making  a  formidable  appearance  with  their  camp 
equipage  and  war  accoutrements,  while  the  colonists  assembled  to 
bid  them  adieu.  They  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Scioto  by  the 
aid  of  poles,  pikes,  &c.,  ascended  it  about  a  mile,  and  encamped  near 
the  site  of  the  court-house  in  Portsmouth.  The  country  was  then 
explored,  and  the  lands  examined  along  the  banks  of  the  river ;  the 
hunters  bringing  in  abundance  of  deer,  turkeys,  and  other  game. 
On  their  return  to  Gallipolis,  their  report  was  joyfully  received,  and 
hope  was  entertained  that  the  Scioto  company  would  yet  put  the 
colonists  in  possession  of  the  lands  they  had  purchased, 

It  was  now  announced  that  a  hostile  band  of  Indians  had  been 
prowling  in  the  neighborhood ;  one  emigrant  was  killed  and  two 
were  taken  prisoners,  while  several  horses  and  cattle  were  carried  off. 
A  defensive  force  was  organized,  and  on  application  to  the  Secretary 


1348  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

of  War,  assistance  was  sent.  Few  further  depredations,  hew -ever, 
were  committed  by  the  Indians,  though  they  came  occasionally  to 
peep  at  the  dances  of  the  colonists,  and  the  settlement  continued  for 
so  long  a  time  to  enjoy  immunity  from  attack,  that  it  was  supposed 
that  the  savages  entertained  unusually  friendly  feelings  towards»the 
French.  After  the  victories  of  Gen.  Wayne  and  the  establishment 
of  peace,  a  free  intercourse  was  maintained  between  the  residents  at 
Gallipolis  and  the  colonists  from  Massachussetts  living  at.  Marietta. 
The  former  soon  became  convinced  that  the  agents  of  the  Scioto 
Company  could  never  secure  them  in  the  possession  of  their  lands, 
and  after  some  further  endeavors  to  procure  redress  by  prosecuting 
their  claims,  they  were  obliged  to  give  up  the  hope  of  having  their 
rights  conceded.  In  a  negotiation  afterwards  with  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany, many  of  the  settlers  were  disappointed,  and  feeling  themselves 
deceived,  left  the  settlement,  reducing  the  numbers  of  those  remain- 
ing to  about  three  hundred.  A  petition  to  Congress  for  an  appro- 
priation of  lands  for  their  benefit,  presented  by  M.  Gervais,  resulted 
in  the  grant  of  twenty  thousand  acres,  to  be  equally  divided  among 
the  French  emigrants  living  at  Gallipolis  at  a  certain  time,  under 
conditions  that  secured  their  settling  there  for  some  years.  Other 
grants  were  afterwards  made  to  other  colonists  opposite  and  below 
the  mouth  of  Little  Sandy  River  in  Kentucky.  Improvements  in 
the  lands  went  on :  apple  and  peach  orchards  were  planted,  and  the 
cider  and  brandy  manufactured  became  a  source  of  revenue.  New 
emigrants  came  in,  and  in  1803,  Gallia  county  was  erected,  Gallipolis 
being  the  county  seat. 

So  interesting  and  romantic  is  the  story  of  this  settlement  by  tho 
French,  that  no  apology  will  be  necessary  for  connecting  the  narra- 
tive with  a  brief  notice  .of  a  remarkable  woman,  remembered  by  all 
the  old  inhabitants  of  Gallipolis,  and  throughout  Western  Virginia, 
and  known  by  name  to  almost  every  child  in  the  country.  She 
was  sometimes  called  "  Mad  Ann,"  and  was  a  terror  to  refractory 
urchins.  Her  maiden  name  was  Hennis.  She  was  born  at  Liver- 
pool, married  Richard  Trotter  at  the  age  of  thirty,  and  came  with 
him  to  the  American  colonies ;  both,  on  account  of  poverty,  being 


ANN    BAILEY.  249 

"  sold  out "  to  service,  according  to  custom,  for  the  payment  of  the 
passage  money,  to  a  gentleman  in  Augusta  county,  Virginia.  Having 
served  him  faithfully  for  the  stipulated  time,  they  became  settlers. 

The  frontier  having  suffered  much  from  Indian  attacks,  in  the 
summer  of  1774,  Lord  Dunmore,  governor  of  Virginia,  collected 
forces  for  an  expedition  against  the  Indian  towns  on  the  Scioto.  Gen. 
Lewis,  who  had  signalized  himself  in  the  field  of  Braddock's  defeat, 
was  ordered  to  march  with  his  division  to  the  junction  of  the  Great 
Kanawha  with  the  Ohio.  Kichard  Trotter  was  a  volunteer  in  his 
foi'ce.  Lewis  halted  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  village  of 
Point  Pleasant,  to  await  further  communications  from  the  corn- 
man  der-in-chief;  but  before  his  men  could  erect  defences,  except  a 
few  fallen  trees,  the  scouts  came  into  camp  with  intelligence  that  an 
army  of  Indian  warriors  was  in  their  immediate  vicinity.  The  troops 
were  put  in  battle  array,  and  in  a  very  short  time,  on  the  morning 
of  the  10th  of  October,  a  general  engagement  took  place,  in  which 
the  Virginians  suffered  great  loss,  though  the  Indians  retreated. 
Among  those  engaged  in  this  memorable  battle,  we  find  the  names 
of  Shelby,  Sevier,  and  James  Robertson. 

Trotter  was  killed  in  this  battle.  From  the  period  of  his  death,  a 
strange  and  wild  spirit  seemed  to  possess  the  widow,  who  frequently 
expressed  her  hatred  of  the  Indians,  and  her  determination  to  have 
revenge.  The  opinion  entertained  by  her  neighbors  that  her  intel- 
lects were  somewhat  disordered,  was  confirmed  by  her  entire  aban- 
donment of  all  feminine  employments.  She  no  longer  sewed,  spun, 
or  attended  to  household  or  garden  concerns,  but  practised  with  the 
rifle,  slung  the  tomahawk,  and  rode  about  the  country  attending 
every  muster  of  soldiers.  She  even  in  part  discarded  female  attire, 
and  was  seen  clad  in  a  hunting-shirt  and  moccasins,  wearing  her 
knife  and  tomahawk,  and  carrying  her  gun.  Her  manly  spirit  and 
resolve  to  avenge  the  death  of  her  husband  did  not  prevent  her  con- 
tracting a  second  alliance,  and  it  was  as  Ann  Bailey  that,  several 
years  afterwards,  she  followed  a  body  of  soldiers  sent  to  garrison  a 
fort  on  the  Great  Kanawha,  where  Charleston  is  now  located.  The 
men  often  practised  shooting  at  a  target,  and  Ann,  ambitious  to  dis- 

11* 


250  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

play  her  skill,  would  contend  with  the  best  marksmen  and  some- 
times carry  off  the  prize.  At  parade  she  handled  fire-arms  with  the 
expertness  of  a  warrior,  and  the  rifle  was  her  constant  companion. 
Howe,  in  his  historical  work  on  Virginia,  mentions  that  she 
frequently  acted  as  a  messenger,  carrying  letters  from  the  fort  to 
Point  Pleasant,  and  that  she  generally  rode  on  horseback,  with  a 
rifle  over  her  shoulder,  and  a  knife  and  tomahawk  in  her  belt.  At 
night  she  would  encamp  in  the  woods,  letting  her  horse  go  foe,  and 
then  walking  back  some  distance  on  the  trail  to  escape  discovery  by 
the  vigilant  savages. 

Marauding  parties  of  Indians  were  often  seen  in  the  valley  of  the 
Kanawha,  and  the  Virginians  doubted  not  their  intention  of  making 
a  desperate  effort  to  dislodge  them  from  this  favorite  hunting-ground. 
A  runner  was  sent  from  Capt.  Arbuckle,  at  Point  Pleasant,  to  Capt. 
Clendenin,  the  commander  of  the  garrison,  with  information  that  a 
hundred  or  more  Indian  warriors  had  been  seen  the  day  previous 
crossing  the  Ohio  at  Racoon  Island,  some  ten  miles  below.  It  was 
supposed  their  design  was  to  attack  the  fort  at  Charleston,  or  at  Big 
Levels,  in  Greenbrier  county.  All  the  inhabitants  around  were  im- 
mediately gathered  into  the  fort. 

At  this  crisis  the  terrible  fact  was  announced  that  their  ammuni- 
tion was  nearly  exhausted.  It  was  determined  to  send  immediately 
to  Camp  Union,  now  Lewisburg,  for  a  supply  ;  but  few  men  could 
be  spared  from  the  fort,  and  none  was  willing  to  encounter,  with  a 
small  party,  the  perils  of  a  hundred  miles'  journey  through  a  track- 
less forest.  Mrs.  Bailey  heard  of  the  difficulty,  and  instantly  offered 
her  services,  saying  she  would  go  alone.  Her  acquaintance  with  the 
country,  her  excellent  horsemanship,  her  perseverance,  and  fearless 
spirit,  were  well  known,  and  the  commander  of  the  garrison  at  length 
yielded  to  her  solicitation.  A  good  horse  was  furnished  her,  with  a 
stock  of  jerked  venison  and  johnny-cake  ;  she  set  her  face  towards 
Greenbrier,  armed  with  rifle,  etc.,  and  resolutely  overcoming  every 
obstacle  in  the  ruggedness  of  the  way  through  the  woods,  the  moun- 
tains she  had  to  cross,  and  the  rivers  to  swim,  undaunted  by  the 
perils  threatening  from  wild  beasts  and  straggling  parties  of  Indians, 


ANN   BAILEY.  251 

she  reached  Camp  Union  in  safety,  delivered  her  orders,  and  being 
provided  with  a  led  horse  fully  laden,  as  well  as  her  own,  set  forward 
on  her  return. 

She  used  to  relate  how  her  trail  was  followed  for  hours  together 
by  wolves,  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  attack  her  horses.  When 
night  set  in  she  was  compelled  to  make  large  fires  to  keep  the  wild 
beasts  at  bay.  To  protect  herself  in  slumber  from  the  danger  of 
rattlesnakes  and  copperheads,  which  infested  the  wilderness,  she  had 
to  construct  a  pioneer  bedstead  every  night,  by  driving  into  the 
ground  four  forked  sticks  about  three  feet  high,  adjust  upon  them 
other  sticks  to  serve  as  bed  rails  and  slats,  and  overlay  them  with 
a  quantity  of  green  boughs,  her  blanket  serving  as  a  musquito  bar. 
Thus  she  would  sleep  amidst  the  howling  of  wolves,  the  screaming 
of  panthers,  and  the  buzzing  of  troublesome  insects ;  at  break  of 
day  replacing  the  loads  on  her  horses,  and  resuming  her  journey, 
her  simple  breakfast  being  eaten  on  horseback.  She  arrived  in 
safety  with  her  supplies  at  the  fort.  It  is  said  that  the  premeditated 
attack  was  made  the  very  next  day,  and  that  the  Indians  were 
repulsed  after  a  severe  conflict.  Mrs.  Bailey  was  actively  employed 
during  the  siege,  and  tradition  says,  fired  several  times  upon  the  as- 
sailants. She  always  insisted  that  she  had  killed  one  Indian  at  least, 
and  thus  accomplished  her  revenge.  The  commandant  has  been 
heard  to  say  that  the  fort  could  not  have  been  saved  without  the 
timely  supply  of  ammunition,  thus  giving  the  credit  to  Mrs.  Bailey's 
exploit,  which  indeed  is  scarcely  paralleled  even  among  the  many 
instances  of  heroism  that  abound  in  the  history  of  the  Revolutionary 
war. 

After  the  troubles  with  the  Indians  were  over,  Mrs.  Bailey  still  re- 
tained her  singular  habits.  She  spent  much  of  her  time  in  fishing 
and  hunting,  and  would  shoot  deer  and  bears  with  the  expertness  of 
a  backwoodsman.  In  person  she  was  short  and  stout,  and  of  coarse 
and  masculine  appearance,  and  she  seldom  wore  a  full  woman's  dress, 
having  on  usually  a  skirt  with  a  man's  coat  over  it,  and  buckskin 
leggins.  The  services  she  rendered  in  the  war  had  greatly  endeared 
her  to  the  people,  and  her  eccentricities  were  regarded  with  an  in- 


if 52  PIONEER    WOMEN   OF    THE    WEST. 

dulgence  that  would  not  have  been  extended  to  one  who  had  no 
such  claims  to  gratitude.  She  annually  visited  many  of  the  people 
of  West  Virginia,  and  received  presents  in  clothing  and  other  articles. 
Gen.  JSTewsom  recollects  seeing  her  in  his  boyhood,  passing  from  the 
Kanawha  Valley  to  the  counties  near  the  Alleghanies,  and  returning 
with  her  horse  laden  with  gifts  from  those  who  remembered  her 
achievement.  Thus  "  Mad  Ann "  and  her  black  horse,  which  she 
called  "  Liverpool "  in  honor  of  her  birthplace,  were  always  greeted 
with  a  smile  of  welcome  wherever  she  chose  to  stop.  When  her 
son  came  to  Ohio,  where  he  owned  a  large  body  of  land,  she  came 
with  him,  and  lived  a  few  miles  from  Gallipolis.  Here  she  was  ac- 
customed to  wander  about  the  country,  received  by  all  as  a  privileged 
visitor,  and  supplied  according  to  her  need.  She  seldom  failed, 
whenever  there  was  a  muster  of  the  militia,  to  attend,  armed  like  a 
soldier,  and  march  in  the  ranks.  "  Not  a  man  of  them  would  have 
put  her  out,"  said  the  General,  in  recounting  the  narrative.  She 
loved  solitude,  and  spent  most  of  her  time  alone,  but  often  gathered 
the  neighbors  around  her  to  relate  the  story  of  her  adventures.  It 
must  be  added  that  among  her  masculine  habits  she  had  that  of 
drinking  occasionally,  .and  that  she  sometimes  exercised  her  skill  in 
boxing,  an  accomplishment  in  which  she  was  well  versed.  She 
could  read  and  write,  and  seems  to  have  possessed  an  unusual  share 
of  intelligence  for" one  of  her  station  in  life. 

A  gentleman  residing  in  Nashville,  said  he  had  seen  her  frequently 
near  Point  Pleasant,  about  the  year  1810  or  1811.  She  called  her 
gun  and  canoe  "  Liverpool,"  as  well  as  her  horse.  She  often  took  it 
upon  herself  to  enforce  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  by  taking  up  such 
boys  as  she  found  wandering  about  on  that  day,  and  compelling 
them  to  sit  around  her  in  a  cabin,  while  she  opened  school  exercises 
for  their  instruction,  greatly  to  the  terror  of  the  delinquents.  The 
gentleman  referred  to  said  he  was  chased  by  her  some  distance  on 
one  of  these  occasions,  and  though  lamed  by  a  bruise  on  his  foot, 
ran  as  for  dear  life,  having  made  his  escape  by  jumping  out  of  the 
window  of  the  hut  where  she  had  imprisoned  a  number  of  boys. 

Mrs.  Bailey's  life  was  prolonged  far  beyond  the  ordinary  limits ; 


ANN    BAILEY. 

according  to  her  own  account,  she  numbered  several  years  over  a 
century.  Her  death  took  place  in  1825.  The  place  of  her  burial  is 
on  a  lonely  hill  near  her  son's  residence,  in  the  solitude  of  the  woods, 
unmarked  by  a  headstone.  Gen.  Newsom  suggests  that  her  remains 
should  be  removed  by  the  citizens  of  Virginia  to  the  spot  where  the 
fort  stood  in  Charleston!  and  honored  by  a  suitable  monument. 


i 


XV. 

ELIZABETH   HARPER. 

ELIZABETH  BARTHOLOMEW,  one  of  the  pioneer  band  who  made  the 
earliest  settlement  in  Northeastern  Ohio,  was  born  in  Bethlehem, 
Hunterdon  County,  New  Jersey,  February  13th,  1749.  She  was 
the  sixteenth  child  of  her  parents,  and  had  still  a  younger  sister. 
She  was  descended  on  the  maternal  side  from  the  Huguenots  of 
France,  and  her  ancestors  were  persons  of  wealth  and  respectable 
rank,  firmly  attached  to  the  principles  they  professed,  and  willing 
to  surrender  all,  and  yield  themselves  unto  death,  rather  than  give 
up  their  religious  faith.  They  removed  to  Germany  after  the  revo- 
cation of  the  edict  of  Nantes ;  and  there  is  a  family  tradition  that 
the  grandmother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  then  a  child,  was 
brought  from  Paris  concealed  in  a  chest.  She  married  in  Germany, 
and  in  an  old  age  emigrated  to  America. 

In  1771,  Elizabeth  was  married  to  Alexander  Harper,  one  of 
several  brothel's  who  had  settled  in  Harpersfield,  Delaware  County, 
New  York.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  these 
brothers  immediately  quitted  their  peaceful  occupations  to  enter  into 
the  continental  service,  Alexander  receiving  a  commission  to  act  as 
captain  of  a  company  of  rangers.  The  exposed  situation  of  that 
portion  of  country,  and  the  frequent  visits  of  Indians  and  tories, 
made  it  necessary  for  the  whig  families  to  seek  the  protection  of 


ELIZABETH   HAKPEK.  255 

Fort  Schoharie.  Mrs.  Harper  repaired  thither  with  her  family,  in- 
cluding the  aged  parents  of  her  husband.  In  time  of  comparative 
security,  she  lived  at  the  distance  of  about  a  mile  from  the  fort. 
Here,  when  there  was  a  sudden  alarm,  she  would  herself  harness 
her  horses  to  the  wagon,  and  placing  in  it  her  children  and 
the  old  people,  would  drive  with  all  speed  to  the  fort,  remaining 
within  its  walls  until  the  danger  was  over,  and  then  returning 
to  her  occupations  on  the  farm.  As  peril  became  more  fre- 
quent or  imminent,  the  old  people  were  removed  to  a  place  of 
greater  security,  while  Mrs.  Harper,  with  her  four  children  and  a 
lad  they  had  taken  to  bring  up,  remained  at  home.  One  night 
they  were  startled  by  the  sound  of  the  alarm-gun.  The  mother 
took  the  youngest  child  in  her  arms,  another  on  her  back,  and  bid- 
ding the  two  elder  hold  fast  to  her  clothes,  set  off  to  escape  to  the 
fort ;  the  lad  running  closely  behind  her,  and  calling  to  her  in  great 
terror  not  to  leave  him.  The  fugitives  reached  the  fort  in  safety, 
and  for  the  present  Mrs.  Harper  concluded  to  take  up  her  abode 
there.  She  would  not,  however,  consent  to  live  in  idleness,  sup- 
ported by  the  labor  of  others,  but  undertook,  as  her  special  charge, 
the  bread-baking  for  the  whole  garrison,  which  she  did  for  six  months. 
During  her  stay  the  fort  sustained  a  siege  from  a  party  of  tories  and 
Indians,  commanded  by  British  officers.  Messengers  were  despatched 
to  the  nearest  posts  for  relief ;  but  while  this  was  slow  in  arriving, 
the  commanding  officer,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  all  his  men, 
determined  on  a  capitulation,  and  ordered  a  flag  of  truce  to  be  hoisted 
for  that  purpose.  The  announcement  of  his  intention  created  a  dis- 
affection which  soon  amounted  almost  to  rebellion.  The  women, 
among  whom  Mrs.  Harper  was  a  leading  spirit,  had  on  that  day 
been  busily  occupied  from  early  dawn  in  making  cartridges,  prepar- 
ing ammunition,  and  serving  rations  to  the  wearied  soldiers.  They 
heartily  sympathized  in  the  determination  expressed  not  to  surrender 
without  another  effort  to  repel  the  besiegers. 

One  of  the  men  declared  his  willingness  to  fire  upon  the 
flag  which  had  been  ordered  to  be  hoisted,  provided  the  women 
would  conceal  him.  This  they  readily  agreed  to  do,  and*  as  often 

i 


256  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

as  the  flag  was  run  up  it  was  fired  at,  while  the  commander  was 
unable  to  discover  the  author  of  this  expression  of  contempt  for  his 
authority.  The  delay  consequent  on  this  act  of  insubordination  and 
the  displeasure  of  the  soldiers,  prevented  the  capitulation  being  car- 
ried into  effect,  till  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  caused  the  enemy 
to  retreat. 

In  the  spring  of  1780,  Capt.  Harper  availed  himself  of  an  inter- 
val in  active  service,  to  look  after  his  property  in  Harpersfield.  While 
there  with  several  of  his  friends,  they  were  surprised  by  a  party  of  In- 
dians and  tories  under  Brandt,  and  taken  prisoners,  an  invalid  bro- 
ther-in-law being  killed.  Harper  and  Brandt  had  been  school- 
fellows in  boyhood,  and  the  chief  did  not  fail  to  show  a  remem- 
brance of  the  days  thus  spent  together.  The  Indian  captor  of  Har- 
per treated  him  with  great  kindness,  taking  him,  however,  to  Canada. 
Here  his  exchange  was  effected  soon  afterwards,  but  he  was  not 
released  till  peace  was  concluded  ;  being  offered,  meanwhile,  large 
rewards  by  the  British  if  he  would  enter  into  service  on  their  side. 
Mrs.  Harper  remained  in  ignorance  of  his  fate  during  the  time  of 
his  absence,  and  supposing  him  killed,  mourned  for  him,  while  she 
did  not  suffer  grief  to  paralyze  her  efforts  for  the  protection  and 
support  of  her  family.  All  her  characteristic  energy  was  devoted  to 
keeping  them  together,  and  doing  what  she  could  towards  improving 
their  shattered  fortunes. 

In  the  year  1797,  a  company  was  formed  in  Harpersfield,  to  pur- 
chase lands  in  the  country  then  called  u  the  far  west."  Besides 
Alexander  and  Joseph  Harper,  the  company  consisted  of  William 
McFarland,  Aaron  Wheeler,  and  Roswell  Hotchkiss  ;  others  joining 
afterwards.  In  June  of  that  year  these  individuals  entered  into  a 
contract  with  Oliver  Phelps  and  Gideon  Granger,  members  of  the 
Connecticut  Land  Company,  for  six  townships  of  land  in  what  was 
then  called  New  Connecticut,  in  the  Northwestern  Territory.  Three 
of  these  townships  were  to  lie  east  and  three  west  of  the  Cuyahoga 
river.  The  Connecticut  Land  Company  drew  their  lands  in  the 
same  year,  and  the  township  now  known  as  Harpersfield  in  Ashta- 


ELIZABETH    HARPER.  257 

bula  County,  was  one  of  those  which  fell  to  the  company  formed  at 
the  town  of  that  name  in  New  York. 

In  September  commissioners  were  sent  out  by  them  to  explore 
the  country.  They  were  much  pleased  with  the  Jocality  called  Har- 
persfield,  and  selected  it  as  the  township  most  eligibly  situated  for  * 
the  commencement  of  a  settlement.  On  the  7th  of  March,  1798, 
Alexander  Harper,  William  McFarland,  and  Ezra  Gregory  set  out 
with  their  families  on  their  journey  to  this  land  of  promise.  As  the 
winter's  snow  was  upon  the  ground,  they  came  in  sleighs  as  far  as 
Rome,  where  they  found  further  progress  impracticable  and  were 
obliged  to  take  up  their  quarters  until  the  1st  of  May.  They  then 
made  another  start  in  boats,  arid  proceeded  to  Oswego,  where  they 
found  a  vessel  which  conveyed  them  to  Queenstown.  Thence  they 
pursued  thejr  journey  on  the  Canada  side  to  Fort  Erie,  being  obliged 
to  take  this  circuitous  route  on  account  of  there  being  no  roads  west 
of  Genesee  River,  nor  any  inhabitants,  except  three  families  living 
at  Buffalo,  while  a  garrison  was  stationed  at  Erie,  in  Pennsylvania. 
At  Fort  Erie  they  found  a  small  vessel  which  had  been  used  for 
transporting  military  stores  to  the  troops  stationed  at  the  West,  and 
which  was  then  ready  to  proceed  up  the  lake  with  her  usual  lading 
of  stores.  This  vessel  was  the  only  one  owned  on  the  American 
side,  and  the  voyagers  lost  no  time  in  securing  passage  in  her  for 
themselves  and  their  families  as  far  as  the  peninsula  opposite  Erie. 
As  the  boat,  however,  was  small  and  already  heavily  laden,  they 
were  able  to  take  with  them  but  a  slender  stock  of  provisions. 
Having  landed  on  the  peninsula  the  party  was  obliged  to  stop  for  a 
week  until  they  could  procure  boats  in  which  to  coast  up  the  lake, 
at  that  time  bordered  by  the  primeval  forest.  After  having  spent 
nearly  four  months  in  performing  a  journey  which  now  occupies  but 
two  or  three  days,  they  landed  on  the  28th  of  June  at  the  mouth 
of  Cunningham's  Creek. 

The  cattle  belonging  to  the  pioneers  had  been  sent  through  the 
wilderness,  meeting  them  -at  the  peninsula,  whence  they  came  up 
along  the  lake  shore  to  the  mouth  of  the  stream.  Here  the  men 
prepared  sleds  to  transport  the  goods  they  had  brought  with  them ; 


258  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST. 

the  whole  party  encamping  that  night  on  the  beach.  The  next 
morning,  Col.  Harper,  who  was  the  oldest  of  the  emigrants,  and  was 
then  about  fifty-five,  set  out  on  foot,  accompanied  by  the  women, 
comprising  Mrs.  Harper  and  two  of  her  daughters,  twelve  and  four- 
teen years  of  age,  Mrs.  Gregory  and  two  daughters,  Mrs.  McFarland 
the  Colonel's  sister,  and  a  girl  whom  she  had  brought  up,  named 
Parthena  Mingus.  Their  new  home  was  about  four  miles  distant, 
and  they  followed  up  the  boundary  line  of  the  township  from  the 
lake,  each  carrying  articles  of  provisions  or  table  furniture.  Mrs. 
Harper  carried  a  small  copper  tea-kettle,  which  she  filled  with  water 
on  the  way  to  the  place  of  destination.  Their  course  lay  through  a 
forest  unbroken  except  by  the  surveyor's  lines,  and  the  men  who 
followed  them  were  obliged  to  cut  their  way  through  for  the  passage 
of  the  sleds.  About  three  in  the  afternoon  they  came  to  the  cor- 
ner of  the  township  line,  about  half  a  mile  north  of  the  present 
site  of  Union ville,  Ohio,  where  they  were  glad  to  halt,  as  they  saw 
indications  of  a  coming  storm.  The  women  busied  themselves  in 
striking  a  fire,  and  putting  the  tea-kettle  over,  while  Col.  Harper  cut 
some  forked  poles  and  drove  them  in  the  ground,  and  then  felled  a 
large  chestnut  tree,  from  which  he  stripped  the  bark,  and  helped 
the  women  to  stretch  it  across  the  poles  so  as  to  form  a  shelter, 
which  they  had  just  time  to  gather  under  when  the  storm  burst 
upon  them.  It  was  not,  however,  of  long  continuance,  and  when 
the  rest  of  the  men  arrived,  they  enlarged  and  enclosed  the  lodge, 
in  which  the  whole  company,  consisting  of  twenty-five  persons  great 
and  small,  were  obliged  to  take  up  their  quarters.  Their  tea-table 
was  then  constructed  in  the  same  primitive  fashion,  and  we  may  be- 
lieve that  the  first  'meal  was  partaken  of  with  excellent  appetite, 
after  the  wanderings  and  labors  "of  the  day. 

The  lodge  thus  prepared  was  the  common  dwelling  for  three 
weeks,  during  which  time  some  of  the  trees  had  been  cut  down,  and 
a  space  cleared  for  a  garden.  The  fourth  of  July  was  celebrated  in 
the  new  Harpersfield  by  the  planting  of  beans,  corn  and  potatoes. 
The  next  thing  was  to  build  log  cabins  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  different  families,  and  when  this  was  done  the  company  separated. 


ELIZABETH   HARPER.  259 

The  location  chosen  by  Col.  Harper  was  where  he  first  pitched 
his  tent,  while  his  brother-in-law  took  a  piece  of  land  about  half  a 
mile  east  of  Uriionville,  near  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  Mr.  Gregory  put  up  his  dwelling  close  to  the  river, 
where  Clyde  Furnace  was  afterwards  built.  The  settlers  suffered 
from  the  sickness  peculiar  to  a  new  country  when  the  season  came. 
A  hired  man  in  Harper's  service  was  taken  ill  in  August,  and  soon 
after  the  Colonel  himself  was  seized  with  the  fever,  of  which  he 
died  on  the  tenth  of  September.  They  had  been  able  to  procure 
no  medical  aid,  and  a  coffin  was  made  by  digging  out  the  trunk  of 
a  tree  and  hewing  a  slab  for  the  lid.  This  melancholy  event  was  a 
peculiar  and  distressing  affliction  to  the  little  band  of  pioneers,  and 
its  effect  on  them  would  have  been  paralysing,  but  that  the  firmness 
and  energy  exhibited  by  the  widow,  who  now  found  her  exertions 
necessary  to  sustain  the  rest,  restored  the  confidence  and  hope  which 
had  nearly  been  extinguished  by  the  loss  of  their  leader.  Although 
the  principal  sufferer  by  the  dispensation,  she  would  not  for  a  mo- 
ment listen  favorably  to  the  proposition  made  to  abandon  the  enter- 
prise. When  an  invitation  came  from  friends  in  Pennsylvania  for 
herself  and  daughters  to  spend  the  winter,  both  she  and  her  eldest 
daughter,  Elizabeth,  declined,  knowing  how  necessary  was  their 
presence  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  little  community,  and  that 
their  departure  would  discourage  many  who  had  intended  coming 
to  join  them  in  their  forest  home.  The  magnanimity  of  this  resolu- 
tion can  be  appreciated  only  in  view  of  the  hardships  they  knew  it 
would  be  their  lot  to  share. 

In  the  fall,  another  small  vessel  was  built  for  use  on  the  American 
side  of  the  lake,  and  two  pioneers,  one  of  whom  was  James  Harper, 
were  sent  to  Canada  to  procure  provisions  for  the  winter.  They 
despatched  four  barrels  of  flour  by  this  vessel,  and  waited  some 
weeks  for  the  other,  the  captain  of  which  had  agreed  to  bring 
provisions  up  the  lake  for  them.  Disappointed  in  this  expectation, 
and  hearing  nothing  of  the  vessel,  they  were  compelled  to  return 
when  the  season  was  far  advanced,  without  supplies ;  finding  on 
their  way  home  the  remains  of  the  vessel,  which  had  been  wrecked 


260  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   "WEST. 

near  Erie.  They  found  also  that  the  vessel  which  had  on  board  the 
flour  they  had  purchased  had  been  driven  into  the  basin,  and  was 
too  fast  locked  in  the  ice  to  proceed.  They  were  obliged  therefore 
to  remain  till  the  ice  became  so  strong  that  the  flour  could  be  re- 
moved in  sleds.  They  at  length  arrived  at  home  just  in  time 
to  bring  relief  from  absolute  want  to  the  settlers,  who  had  lived  six 
weeks  without  any  kind  of  breadstuffs,  substituting  salt  beef  and 
turnips,  the  supply  of  which  was  just  exhausted.  Some  grain  had 
been  raised  at  Elk  Creek,  in  Pennsylvania,  but  there  were  no  mills 
in  that  neighborhood,  and  the  wheat  afterwards  procured  there  was 
brought  in  hand-sleds  on  the  ice  to  Harpersfield.  The  records  of 
the  Historical  Society  state  that  the  two  sons  of  Mrs.  Harper  fre- 
quently brought  bags  of  grain  packed  on  their  backs.  It  was  ground 
in  a  hand-mill  somewhat  larger  than  a  coffee-mill,  which  the  pioneers 
had  brought  with  them.  By  keeping  this  constantly  in  operation 
enough  flour  was  obtained  for  daily  use,  mingled,  of  course,  with  the 
bran  from  which  they  had  no  means  of  separating  it,  but  having 
a  relish  and  sweetness  which  such  necessity  only  could  impart  to  the 
coarsest  food. 

There  were  no  deer  in  the  country  at  that  time,  but  large  droves 
of  elk,  the  flesh  of  which  resembled  coarse  beef,  were  frequently 
seen.  The  flesh  of  the  bears  was  much  more  oily,  and  really  very 
palatable ;  racoons  also  were  abundant  and  easily  obtained,  and 
were  much  used  by  the  settlers,  although  in  after  years  of  plenty 
they  lost  all  relish  for  "  coon  meat."  Hickory  nuts  were  also 
abundant  that  year,  and  were  found  a  valuable  article  of  food  when 
other  provisions  failed.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  in  the  severest 
straits  to  which  the  settlers  were  reduced,  the  utmost  harmony 
-  and  friendly  feeling  prevailed  among  them,  and  whatever  game  or 
provisions  chanced  to  be  obtained  by  any  one  family  was  freely 
shared  with  the  other  two. 

Towards  spring  the  men  were  again  sent  for  a  supply  of  wheat, 
but  by  that  time  the  ice  was  growing  tender,  and  the  weather  tended 
towards  thawing,  so  that  they  were  detained  on  the  way  much  longer 
than  they  had  expected,  and  on  their  arrival  at  home  found  the 


ELIZABETH    IIAKPEK.  261 

families  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  having  been  without  provisions 
for  two  days.  In  this  time  of  distress,  the  fortitude  and  energy  of 
Mrs.  Harper  aided  in  supporting  the  rest ;  she  was  fruitful  in  expe- 
dients, and  for  the  last  few  days  they  had  lived  on  the  wild  leeks 
she  had  gathered  from  the  woods  and  boiled  for  them.  Their  trou- 
bles did  not  terminate  with  the  severity  of  the  winter.  As  soon  as 
the  lake  opened,  the  men  set  out  for  Canada  in  boats  to  procure 
provisions,  but  found  so  much  ice  as  they  went  down  that  they  were 
unable  to  reach  Buffalo  without  much  detention.  In  the  meantime 
new  difficulties  arose  in  the  little  settlement.  The  mill,  on  which  all 
depended,  was  broken  beyond  hope  of  repair,  and  there  appeared 
no  way  of  grinding  the  wheat,  which  they  could  not  pound  so  that 
bread  could  be  made  of  it,  and  which,  when  prepared  by  boiling, 
proved  unwholesome  food.  In  thb  extremity  some  relief  was  afforded 
by  the  arrival,  at  the  mouth  of  Cunningham's  Creek,  of  Eliphalet 
Austin,  who  came  to  make  preparations  for  a  settlement  at  Austin - 
burgh,  and  gave  the  pioneers  what  they  needed  for  immediate  use 
from  his  supplies  of  provisions,  thus  preventing  them  from  suffering 
till  the  return  of  their  messengers. 

Howe  gives  an  anecdote  of  Mrs.  John  Austin,  showing  some  of  the 
troubles  of  the  settlers.  "  Hearing,  on  one  occasion,  a  bear  among 
her  hogs,  she  determined  to  defeat  his  purpose.  First  hurrying  her 
little  children  up  a  ladder  into  her  chamber,  for  safety,  in  case  she 
was  overcome  by  the  animal,  she  seized  a  rifle,  and  rushing  to  the 
spot  saw  the  bear  only  a  few  rods  distant,  carrying  off  a  hog  into 
the  woods,  while  the  prisoner  sent  forth  deafening  squeals,  accom- 
panied by  the  rest  of  the  sty  in  full  chorus.  Nothing  daunted,  she 
rushed  forward  to  the  scene  with  her  rifle  ready  cocked,  on  which 
the  monster  let  go  his  prize,  raised  himself  upon  his  haunches  and 
faced  her.  Dropping  upon  her  knees  to  obtain  a  steady  aim,  and 
resting  her  rifle  on  the  fence,  within  six  feet  of  the  bear,  the  intrepid 
female  pulled  the  trigger.  Perhaps  fortunately  for  her,  the  rifle 
missed  fire.  Again  and  again  she  snapped  her  piece,  but  with  the 
same  result.  The  bear,  after  keeping  his  position  some  time,  dropped 


262  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

down  on  all  fours,  and  leaving  the  hog  behind,  retreated  to  the 
forest  and  resigned  the  field  to  the  woman." 

About  this  time  an  accident  not  uncommon  in  this  forest  life  oc- 
curred to  Mi*s.  Harper.  She  went  out  one  morning  to  find  the  cows, 
which  had  strayed  away,  but  not  having  yet  learned  to  tell  the 
north  side  of  a  tree  by  the  difference  in  the  bark — a  species  of  wood- 
craft with  which  she  afterwards  became  familiar — she  lost  herself, 
and  wandered  all  day  along  the  banks  of  a  stream  that  ran  through 
the  depths  of  the  forest.  Her  family,  of  course,  became  alarmed  at 
her  lengthened  absence  and  blew  the  horn  repeatedly ;  but  it  was 
not  until  the  shades  of  night  had  fallen  that  she  heard  the  signal, 
when  she  managed  to  light  upon  the  township  line,  and  followed  it 
to  the  clearing.  In  the  summer  following,  her  sons  were  obliged  to 
watch  closely  the  hogs  they  had  brought  from  Canada,  on  account 
of  the  bears,  which  were  very  numerous  and  destructive  to  stock. 
The  men  being  occupied  in  clearing  and  working  the  land,  or  pro- 
curing provisions,  various  out-door  employments  were  cheerfully 
assumed  by  the  women.  One  evening  Mrs.  Harper,  with  her  eldest 
daughter,  went  out  to  look  up  the  hogs,  taking  the  path  leading  to 
Hhe  nearest  neighbor's  house.  Presently  they  were  startled  by  see- 
ing a  small  bear's  cub  cross  the  path  just  in  advance  of  them ;  it 
was  followed  by  another,  and  the  old  bear  composedly  brought  up 
the  rear,  taking  no  notice  of  the  females,  who  made  their  way  home 
with  all  speed.  The  pigs  came  to  their  quarters  directly  unharmed. 
So  frequent  were  encounters  with  wild  beasts,  that  the  men  never 
went  beyond  the  clearing  without  fire-arms. 

In  July,  1799,  Major  Joseph  Harper,  the  Colonel's  brother,  joined 
the  colony  with  his  family,  while  a  relative  of  the  same  name,  with 
some  other  families,  made  a  settlement  at  Conneaut,  "  the  Plymouth 
of  the  Western  Reserve,"  some  thirty  miles  down  the  lake.  This 
year  wheat,  corn,  etc.,  were  raised  sufficient  for  the  consumption; 
but  there  was  a  scarcity  of  meat,  the  seventy  of  the  preceding  winter 
having  killed  several  of  their  cattle,  and  many  of  the  hogs  being 
devoured  by  the  bears.  The  settlers  were  under  the  necessity,  there- 
fore, of  depending  on  wild  game,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  secured 


ELIZABETH    IIAKPER.  263 

it  in  traps,  or  by  the  unerring  aim  of  their  rifles,  with  their  iron 
strength  for  the  endurance  of  fatigue  in  ranging  the  forest,  might 
well  entitle  them  to  be  called  "  mighty  hunters."  But  they  were 
heavily  laden  with  daily  cares  and  laborious  duties,  which  even  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase  could  not  induce  them  to  neglect ;  the  clear- 
ing of  the  land  and  the  culture  of  grain  and  vegetables  demanded 
incessant  attention,  and  the  grinding  of  the  grain  was  a  matter 
requiring  the  exercise  of  some  ingenuity.  Corn  they  soon  contrived 
to  pound  in  mortars  scooped  in  the  top  of  oak  stumps,  with  a 
pounder  attached  to  a  spring-pole ;  but  they  were  obliged  to  send 
their  wheat  in  boats  down  the  lake  as  far  as  Walnut  Creek,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, where  a  mill  was  erected  this  year.  The  families  of  the 
new  emigrants  suffered  considerably  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sum- 
mer from  sickness,  and  Mrs.  Harper  went  down  to  the  settlement 
at  Conneaut  to  offer  assistance  in  attending  to  them.  She  remained 
some  weeks  occupied  in  her  ministrations  of  kindness,  and  was  not 
ready  to  return  home  till  the  last  of  November.  Travelling  in  open 
boats  and  on  horseback  were  the  only  modes  practicable  among  the 
pioneers  ;  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  the  first,  and  accom- 
panied by  her  relative,  James  Harper,  our  benevolent  heroine  started 
on  her  homeward  journey,  the  only  road  being  along  the  lake  shore. 
Fording  the  streams  at  their  mouth,  they  had  ridden  some  fifteen 
miles  when  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  Ashtabula  Creek,  across 
which  a  sand-bar  had  formed  during  the  summer,  but  had  now 
given  way  to  the  increased  force  of  the  waters  flowing  into  the  lake. 
Harper  was  not  aware  of  the  depth  of  the  stream,  into  which  he 
rode  without  hesitation,  and  presently  found  his  horse  swimming. 
He  called  out  to  warn  his  companion,  but  she  was  too  anxious  to 
reach  home  to  heed  his  remonstrance,  and  followed  him  fearlessly. 
Both  reached  the  other  side  with  some  difficulty,  Mrs.  Harper  wet 
to  the  shoulders,  and  in  this  condition  she  rode  the  remainder  of 
the  way,  arriving  at  home  before  midnight. 

During  the  fall  there  were  some  accessions  to  the  colony  ;  Judge 
Wheeler,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of  Col.  Harper,  came  in  Oc- 
tober with  his  family,  and  Harper's  eldest  son,  who  had  been  out 


264  PIONEEK   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

the  year  before  and  returned.  For  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  settle- 
ment was  commenced,  they  were  not  visited  by  Indians,  though  they 
frequently  heard  their  dogs,  and  learned  afterwards  that  they  had 
not  escaped  the  observation  of  their  savage  neighbors,  who  had 
counted  them  and  noticed  all  their  occupations  and  new  arrivals. 
The  winter  of  1799-1800  was  remarkable  for  the  depth  of  snow  upon 
the  ground.  In  consequence  of  this,  game  could  not  be  procured, 
and  the  Indians  suffered  severely.  Some  thirty  of  them,  unable  to 
procure  anything  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hunger,  came  to  the 
settlement  to  ask  relief,  and  were  treated  with  the  most  generous 
hospitality.  They  remained  six  weeks,  sheltered  and  fed  by  the 
colonists,  and  when  the  snow  was  melted  they  found  plenty  of  game 
in  the  forest,  which  they  showed  their  gratitude  by  sharing  with 
their  white  friends. 

In  March,  1800,  Daniel  Bartholomew  brought  out  his  family 
accompanied  by  that  of  Judge  Griswold,  whose  destination  was 
Windsor.  They  came  on  the  ice  from  Buffalo,  arriving  only  the  day 
before  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  left  the  lake  clear  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  In  the  winter  preceding,  the  whole  Western  Reserve 
had  been  erected  into  a  county,  which  was  called  Trumbull,  the  part 
of  it  comprising  Ashtabula  being  then  included  in  one 'township,  and 
called  Richfield.^  In  May  there  were  still  further  accessions,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  a  scarcity  was  experienced  of  provisions  raised  the 
previous  year,  and  designed  for  the  use  of  a  much  smaller  number. 
The  settlers  were  again  compelled  to  send,  in  June,  to  Canada  in  an 
open  boat,  for  fresh  supplies.  In  August,  an  election  was  held  for 
the  purpose  of  sending  a  delegation  to  a  convention  appointed  to  be 
held  at  Chilicothe  in  the  ensuing  winter,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
measures  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Ohio  as  a  State  into  the 
Union.  The  winter  of  1800-1801,  passed  without  any  remarkable 
occurrence,  the  country  being  healthy  and  provisions  abundant.  In 
the  following  June  other  families  were  added  to  the  number  of  inha- 
bitants, and  the  summer  was  signalized  by  the  erection  of  a  horse-mill, 
the  first  built  in  the  country,  and  the  only  one  for  many  miles  round, 
till  others  were  built  in  Austinburgh.  The  sufferings  of  the  settlers 


ELIZABETH    HARPEK.  205 

from  scarcity  of  food  and  other  privations  were  now  over,  the 
advance  of  improvement  developing  the  resources  of  the  country ; 
and  the  farmers  were  able  to  enlarge  their  cleared  lands,  and  culti- 
vate the  soil  to  better  advantage.  Their  friends  from  the  East  con- 
tinued to  join  them,  and  Mrs.  Harper  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
her  elder  children  settled  around  her.  In  1802,  a. school  was  estab- 
lished in  the  settlement ;  supposed  to  be  the  first  on  the  Reserve. 
The  scholars  came  from  the  distance  of  two  miles  and  a  half,  and  as 
the  reputation  of  the  institution  extended,  they  were  sent  from 
Windsor  and  Burton,  twenty  and  thirty  miles  distant.  The  same 
year  regular  meetings  were  established  by  the  "Lovers  of  Good 
Order,"  and  the  year  following  saw  numerous  accessions. 

In  about  three  years  after  the  commencement  of  the  settlement, 
the  Indians  began  to  visit  them  periodically.  They  were  chiefly 
Ojibways,  and  belonged  to  Lake  Superior  in  the  summer,  but  came 
down  every  fall  in  their  bark  canoes,  and  landing  at  the  mouth  of 
the  streams,  carried  their  canoes  on  their  heads  across  the  portage 
to  Grand  River,  seven  miles  from  the  lake,  where  they  took  up  their 
quarters  for  the  winter,  returning  west  in  the  spring.  They  mani- 
fested a  friendly'disposition  towards  the  white  men,  and  as  the  pio- 
neers gave  them  assistance  in  sickness  and  destitution,  they  endeav- 
ored to  show  their  gratitude  by  bringing  them  portions  of  such  largo 
game  as  they  killed.  Many  a  choice  piece  of  bear's  or  elk's  meat, 
carefully  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  has  Mrs.  Harper  received  from  her 
savage  friends.  One  day  she  saw  a  party  of  drunken  Indians  com- 
ing towards  her  house  when  the  men  were  absent :  and  she  had 
just  time  to  conceal  a  small  keg  of  liquor  under  the  floor  before  they 
came  in,  demanding  whiskey.  They  were  told  they  could  not  have 
any,  but  insisting  that  they  would,  they  commenced  a  search  for  it, 
and  finding  a  barrel  of  vinegar,  asked  if  that  would  "  make  drunk 
come,"  as  if  so,  they  would  take  it.  Finding  it  not  the  right  sort  of 
stuff,  they  insisted,  before  leaving  the  house,  on  treating  the  women 
from  a  calabash  of  muddy  whiskey  which  they  carried  with  them. 

During  all  the  privations,  trials  and  sufferings  which  Mrs.  Harper 
was  compelled  to  undergo,  she  was  never  known  to  yield  to  des- 
12 


!i66  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

pendency,  but  with  untiring  energy  exerted  herself  to  encourage  all 
within  the  sphere  of  her  influence,  teaching  them  to  bear  up  against 
misfortune,  and  make  the  best  of  the  home  where  their  lot  was  cast. 
Her  own  family  knew  not,  until  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life  had 
been  overcome,  how  much  she  had  endured — how  many  hours  of 
anxiety  and  sleepless  nights  she  had  passed  in  the  days  of  darkness 
and  disaster.  She  found  her  reward  in  the  affection  and  usefulness 
of  her  children,  several  of  whom  filled  important  stations  in  their 
adopted  State.  During  the  war  of  1812,  the  country  was  exposed 
to  all  the  dangers  of  a  frontier,  liable,  on  every  reverse  of  the  Amer- 
ican arms,  to  be  overrun  by  hostile  Indians.  In  time  of  danger, 
Mrs.  Harper's  advice  was  always  eagerly  sought,  as  one  whose  ex- 
perience qualified  her  to  decide  on  the  best  course  in  any  emergency. 
Her  grand-daughter  well  remembers  seeing  her  one  day  engaged  at 
the  house  of  her  son-in-law  in  showing  a  company  of  volunteers 
how  to  make  cartridges. 

Her  life  was  prolonged  to  her  eighty-fifth  year,  and  she  died  on 
the  llth  of  June,  1833,  retaining  unimpaired  until  her  last  illness 
the  characteristic  strength  of  her  remarkable  mind. 


"  In  May,  1799,  Joel  and  Sarah  Thorp  moved  with  an  ox-team 
from  North  Haven,  Connecticut,  to  Millsford,  in  Ashtabula  county, 
and  were  the  first  settlers  in  that  region.  They  soon  had  a  small 
clearing  on  and  about  an  old  beaver  dam,  which  was  very  rich  and 
mellow.  Towards  the  first  of  June,  the  family  being  short  of  provi- 
sions, Mr.  Thorp  started  off  alone  to  procure  some  through  the 
wilderness,  with  no  gu;de  but  a  pocket  compass,  to  the  nearest 
settlement,  about  twenty  miles  distant,  in  Pennsylvania.  His  family, 
consisting  of  Mrs.  Thorp  and  three  children — the  oldest  child,  Basil, 
being  but  eight  years  of  age — were  before  his  return  reduced  to  ex- 
tremities for  the  want  of  food.  They  were  compelled  to  dig  for  and 
in  a  measure  subsist  on  roots,  which  yielded  but  little  nourishment. 
The  children  in  vain  asked  food,  promising  to  be  satisfied  with  the 


SARAH   THORP.  267 

*east  possible  portion.  The  boy  Basil  remembered  to  have  seen 
some  kernels  of  corn  in  a  crack  of  one  of  the  logs  of  the  cabin,  and 
passed  hours  in  an  unsuccessful  search  fbr  them.  Mrs.  Thorp 
amptied  the  straw  out  of  her  bed,  and  picked  it  over  to  obtain  the 
little  wheat  it  contained,  which  she  boiled  and  gave  to  her  children. 
Her  husband,  it  seems,  had  taught  her  to  shoot  at  a  mark,  in  wh^ch 
ihe  acquired  great  skill.  When  all  her  means  for  procuring  food 
were  exhausted,  she  saw,  as  she  stood  in  her  cabin  door,  a  wild 
turkey  flying  near.  She  took  down  her  husband's  rifle,  and  on 
looking  for  ammunition,  was  surprised  to  find  only  sufficient  for  a 
small  charge.  Carefully  cleaning  the  barrel,  so  as  not  to  lose  any 
by  its  sticking  to  the  sides  as  it  went  down,  she  set  some  apart  for 
priming  and  loaded  the  piece  with  the  remainder,  and  stalled  in 
pursuit  of  the  turkey,  reflecting  that  on  her  success  depended  tho 
lives  of  herself  and  children.  Under  the  excitement  of  her  feelings 
she  came  near  defeating  her  object,  by  frightening  the  turkey,  which 
flew  a  short  distance  and  again  alighted  in  a  potatoe  patch.  Upon 
this,  she  returned  to  the  house  and  waited  until  the  fowl  had  begun 
to  wallow  in  the  loose  earth.  On  her  second  approach,  she  acted 
with  great  caution  and  coolness,  creeping  slily  on  her  hands  and 
knees  from  log  to  log,  until  she  had  gained  the  last  obstruction  be- 
tween herself  and  the  desired  object.  It  was  now  a  trying  moment, 
and  a  crowd  of  emotions  passed  through  her  mind  as  she  lifted  the 
rifle  to  a  level  with  her  eye.  She  fired  ;  the  result  was  fortunate; 
the  turkey  was  killed,  and  herself  and  family  preserved  from  death 
by  her  skill.  Mrs.  Thorp  married  three  times.  Her  first  husband 
was  killed  in  Canada  in  the  war  of  1812  ;  her  second  was  supposed 
to  have  been  murdered.  Her  last  husband's  name  was  Gardiner. 
She  died  in  Orange,  in  Cuyahoga  county,  Nov.  1st,  1846."* 

The  first  surveying  party  of  the  Western  Reserve  landed  at  the 
mouth  of  Conneaut  Creek,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1796.  One  of  the 
company  says — "  We  celebrated  the  day  in  the  usual  manner,  so  far 
as  our  means  enabled  us,  by  drinking  patriotic  toasts  of  pure  lake 

•  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio, 


268  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

water  from  tin  cups,  and  firing  the  usual  number  of  salutes  from 
two  or  three  fowling-pieces."*  The  party  numbered  fifty  two  per- 
sons, including  two  women,  Mrs.  Gunn  and  Mrs.  Stiles.  The  next 
day  the  laborers  commenced  building  a  house  as  the  dwelling-place 
of  the  families  and  storehouse  of  their  provisions.  In  their  explora- 
tion the  surveyors  discovered  a  fine  bee  tree.  "  We  encamped,  cut 
down  the  tree,  and  ate  to  our  satisfaction,  each  man  filling  his  canteen  ; 
and  the  residue  was  put  into  the  bags  of  flour.  Except  for  two  or 
three  days,  while  our  honey  lasted,  we  lived  on  bread  alone.  On 
our  arrival  at  the  lake  we  took  the  beach,  and  went  east  to  our 
camp  at  Conneaut ;  and  what  was  remarkable,  on  our  way  we  fell 
in  with  all  three  of  the  parties,  who  had  each  finished  their  lines  and 
joined  ours.  During  our  absence  the  house  had  been  completed, 
and  Gen.  Cleveland  f  had  assembled  there  a  small  tribe  of  Indians 
residing  a  few  miles  up  Conneaut  Creek,  had  held  a  council  with 
them,  made  them  some  presents,  and  established  a  friendly  inter- 
course. The  General  had  furnished  himself  with  an  Indian  dress, 
and  being  of  swarthy  complexion,  afforded  an  excellent  likeness  of 
an  Indian  chief,  and  was  thereafter  known  in  the  party  by  the  name 
of  Pagua,  the  name  of  the  chief  of  the  tribe  referred  to." 

The  first  permanent  settlement  was  not  commenced  till  two  years 
afterwards.  One  of  the  early  settlers,  on  his  return  from  Erie,  with 
corn,  along  the  ice  on  the  lake  shore,  fell  into  an  "  ice  hole"  some 
distance  from  the  land,  and  after  spending  some  time  in  vain  efforts 
to  extricate  his  horse,  took  the  meal,  saddle  and  bridle  upon  his 
shoulders,  and  made  for  the  shore,  with  his  clothes  frozen  stiff  upon 
him.  On  the  beach  he  kindled  a  fire,  and  after  partiallv  drying 
himself,  proceeded  on  his  journey.  Some  time  after  nightfall  he 
came  to  a  stream  on  the  west  bank  of  which  stood  an  empty  cabin  ; 
to  reach  this  and  spend  the  niffht  was  his  desire,  but  with  the 

1  O  ' 

stream  he  was  unacquainted.  He  built  a  large  fire,  and  by  the 
light  of  it  ventured  to  ford  it  with  his  load  ;  fortunately  the  water 

*  MSS.  in  possession  of  John  Barr,  Esq.,  of  Cleveland, 
f  Moses  Cleveland,  the  Director  of  survey  commenced  by  the  Connecticut 
Land  Company. 


FAMILY    AT   CONNEAUT. 

was  only  about  five  feet  deep,  and  after  much  danger  and  difficulty, 
he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  cabin,  where,  by  building  a  fire,  and 
running  about  to  keep  himself  awake,  he  spent  the  night.  The 
next  day  at  night  he  reached  home,  almost  exhausted  by  his  load 
and  want  of  food. 

In  the  year  1798,  small  settlements,  few  and  far  between, 
sprinkled  the  Reserve,  and  a  small  illbuilt  schooner  constituted  the 
American  fleet  on  Lake  Erie.  Subsequently  the  Indian  title  to  that 
part  of  the  Reserve  lying  west  of  the  Cuyahoga,  was  extinguished, 
and  the  lands  were  brought  into  market.  An  apology  for  a  grist- 
mill had  been  erected  near  Cleveland,  which  had  no  competitor  with- 
in a  hundred  miles,  and  gave  general  satisfaction,  as  few  had  any 
thing  to  grind.  Five  or  six  log  cabins  had  been  built  in  what  was 
called  "  the  city  of  Cleveland."  Capt.  Edward  Paine  made  the  first 
sleigh-track  through  the  wilderness  from  Cataraugus  to  Erie,  accom- 
panied by  his  wife,  her  sister,  and  a  female  cousin,  and  encamped 
two  nights  in  the  snow.  In  the  fall,  business  obliged  James  Kings- 
bury,  the  father  of  one  of  the  families  at  Conneaut — the  first,  it  is 
said,  that  wintered  on  the  Reserve — to  goto  Connecticut ;  and  it  was 
the  middle  of  November  before  he  arrived  at  Buffalo  on  his  return. 
The  snow  had  fallen  to  the  depth  of  two  and  a  half  feet,  and 
the  weather  was  extremely  cold. 

"  From  this  point  Mr.  Kingsbury  must  leave  the  habitation  of  the 
white  man,  and  make  his  way  through  a  wilderness,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles,  with  no  road  to  guide  him  except  for  a  part  of  that 
distance  the  beach  of  the  lake.  He  was  sensible  of  the  condition 
in  which  he  had  left  his  family  ;  that  they  had  but  a  scanty  supply 
of  provisions,  and  that  his  absence  had  already  been  longer  than 
was  expected.  These  circumstances,  with  the  setting  in  of  a  winter 
so  severe,  filled  his  mind  with  the  painful  apprehension  that 
his  family  might  be  suffering  starvation.  Having  provided  himself 
with  such  necessaries  as  he  could  procure,  with  which  he  loaded  his 
horse,  he  set  forth  on  foot,  and  leading  his  horse,  pursued  the 
beach  of  the  lake.  After  a  fatiguing  march  through  the  snow,  he 
reached  the  Indian  settlement  on  the  Cataraugus.  As  from  this 


270  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

place,  on  account  of  the  bold  projecting  bluffs,  he  could  no  longet 
follow  the  beach,  he  procured  an  Indian,  by  the  name  of  Seneca 
Billy,  to  guide  him  through  the  trackless  forest,  and  took  his 
course  through  the  woods,  leading  his  horse  as  before  mentioned. 
In  this  manner  he  toiled  through  the  deep  snow,  camping  each 
night  in  the  midst  of  it,  for  several  days,  when  he  reached  Presqu' 
Isle.  With  much  difficulty  he  was  able  at  this  place  to  procure  a 
bag  of  corn,  for  which  he  paid  three  dollars  a  bushel.  Here  he 
dismissed  his  Indian  guide,  and  again  took  to  the  lake,  travelling 
upon  the  ice.  He  had  proceeded  in  this  manner  as  far  as  the  fire 
spring,  near  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek,  when  his  horse  broke  through 
the  ice,  and  though  he  extricated  him,  he  was  so  badly  injured  that 
he  was  obliged  to  leave  him  ;  and  taking  the  bag  of  corn  upon  his 
own  back,  he  reached  his  home,  but  not  such  a  home  as  could 
afford  him  consolation  after  his  excessive  toil  and  suffering.  He 
found  a  family  perishing  for  want  of  food.  His  wife  had  given 
birth  to  a  child,  not  only  without  any  of  those  comforts  which  in 
such  cases  are  usually  deemed  indispensable,  but  destitute  of 
even  the  coarsest  food,  herself  and  family  being  in  nearly  a  famish- 
ing state.  The  father  soon  after  his  arrival  was  doomed  to  see  the 
child  expire  of  starvation. 

"  The  infant  was,  I  believe,  the  first  white  child  born  on  the 
Reserve.  Some  three  or  four  months  afterwards,  Mrs.  Stiles,  of 
Cleveland,  presented  her  husband  with  one  more  fortunate,  not  only 
as  to  life,  but  the  means  of  sustaining  it ;  to  wit — a  donation  of  land 
by  the  Company — at  least  so  said  rumor. 

"  As  the  supply  which  Kingsbury  had  brought  would  last  but  a 
short  time,  it  became  necessary  that  he  should  procure  more.  The 
Connecticut  Land  Company  had  stored  the  provisions  for  the  use  of 
their  surveyors  at  Cleveland,  and  Kingsbury  knew  that  of  this  some 
barrels  of  salt  beef  still  remained.  Having  lost  his  horse,  as  before 
mentioned,  and  being  destitute  of  any  other,  it  was  fortunate  that 
the  severity  of  the  season,  which  had  contributed  to  the  suffering  of 
his  family  by  making  the  ice  excellent,  facilitated  at  this  time  the 
means  of  supplying  their  wants.  Taking  advantage  of  this,  he  went 


MRS.    WALWORTII.  271 

to  Cleveland,  (seventy  miles)  and  procuring  one  of  the  barrels  of 
beef,  drew  it  home  upon  the  ice  on  a  hand-sled,  in  which  he  was 
assisted  by  a  man  then  at  Cleveland.  When  they  arrived  they 
found  the  first  shanty  erected  by  the  Company,  occupied  by  Capt. 
Hodge  and  family." 

The  wife  of  Hon.  John  Wai  worth,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Lake  County,  shared  with  him  all  the  toils  and  privations  attendant 
upon  a  settlement  in  the  wilderness.  An  old  pioneer  writes  of  her, 
"  In  our  pioneer  days  she  went  hand  in  hand  with  her  husband 
in  all  that  was  kind,  hospitable,  and  generous ;  and  to  her  winning 
and  attractive  manner,  and  her  sprightliness  and  vivacity,  we  must 
in  part  attribute  the  resort  to  their  house  of  the  polished  and  respect- . 
able  part  of  the  comm unity.  Twice  has  that  lady  travelled  from  this 
country  to  the  furthest  part  of  Connecticut  and  back,  on  horseback  : 
I  mention  this  to  show  her  resolution  and  perseverance."  Early  in 
1800.  Mr.  Wai  worth  brought  his  family  in  a  sleigh  to  Buffalo,  where 
they  waited  two  weeks  for  a  sleigh  to  come  from  Presqu'  Isle,  then 
proceeded  on  the  ice  till  they  came  opposite  Cataraugus  Creek. 
Leaving  the  sleighs  and  horses  some  fifty  or  sixty  roods  out,  the 
party  went  to  the  shore  and  encamped  under  some  hemlock  trees, 
and  partook  of  a  repast  seasoned  with  hilarity  and  good  feeling.  The 
next  afternoon  all  arrived  in  safety  at  Presqu'  Isle,  whence  Mr.  Wai- 
worth  went  back  to  Buffalo  for  his  goods.  Mr.  Wai  worth's  nearest 
neighbors  east  of  his  new  purchase,  were  at  Harpersfield,  fifteen  miles 
distant.  His  family  reached  their  new  home  April  7th,  1800,  and  lived 
in  a  tent  for  two  weeks,  during  which  time  the  sun  was  not  seen.* 

On  the  4th  July,  1801,  the  first  ball  was  given  in  Cleveland,  at 
Major  Carter's  log  cabin  under  the  hill.  The  company  consisted  of 
a  dozen  ladies  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty  gentlemen.  The  dancers 
kept  time  to  Major  Jones'  violin,  on  the  puncheon  floor,  and  occa- 
sionally refreshed  themselves  with  a  glass  of  sling,  made  of  maple 
sugar  and  whiskey ;  and  never  was  the  anniversary  celebrated  by 
"  a  more  joyful  and  harmonious  company,  than  those  who  danced 

*  MS.  of  J.  Barr,  Esq. 


272  PIONEER   WOMEN    Of   THE   WEST. 

the  scamperdown,  double-shuffle,  western  swing,  and  half-moon" 
in  that  unostentatious  place  of  assemblage. 

The  first  school  opened  in  the  town  was  taught,  in  1802,  by  Miss 
Anna  Spafford,  also  in  a  room  of  Major  Carter's  cabin.  This 
"  thorough  pioneer  "  appeal's  to  have  been  foremost  in  every  advance 
of  improvement.  An  incident  in  which  his  wife  was  concerned, 
showing  something  of  the  spirit  of  the  times,  I  take  from  the  MSS. 
referred  to: — "  In  the  summer  of  1803,  Mrs.  Carter  observed  John 
Orric  and  another  Indian  lad  in  her  garden,  breaking  some  small 
fruit  trees.  Upon  her  reproving  them,  young  Orric  knocked  her 
down  with  his  war-club  and  seriously  injured  her.  The  lads  fled 
immediately  to  the  west  side  of  the  river  to  their  fathers'  lodges. 
Several  days  afterwards,  Major  Carter,  who  was  on  the  watch, 
observed  these  lads,  with  others,  amusing  themselves  with  playing 
ball  and  swimming  on  the  beach  of  the  lake.  He  went  there  and 
took  the  lads  prisoner,  secured  them  with  ropes,  and  took  them  to 
the  Indian  camp  on  the  side  hill,  telling  them  he  was  going  to  hang 
them.  Not  finding  Orric's  father  at  the  lodge,  he  released  the  other 
lad,  and  directed  him  to  go  and  tell  him  he  had  John  a  prisoner 
and  was  going  to  hang  him  for  striking  his  wife.  The  lad  did  the 
errand  faithfully,  for  the  Major  soon  heard  the  Indian  whoop  of 
alarm,  followed  speedily  by  the  war-whoop  from  the  different  lodges 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  John's  father  soon  arrived,  much 
excited,  and  with  all  the  savageness  of  his  nature  depicted  in  his 
face,  with  his  tomahawk  uplifted  ready  for  deadly  revenge.  He  con- 
fronted the  Major,  giving  him  one  of  those  fierce,  gleaming  stares,  so 
significant  in  the  Indian  brave ;  but  the  eyes  of  the  Major  met  his 
and  did  not  quail.  The  injured  husband  an4  the  enraged  father 
stood  and  gazed  long  in  silence,  each  glancing  defiance  at  the  other ; 
at  length  the  eye  of  the  savage  turned  from  the  calm,  fearless  look 
of  the  white  hunter,  and  he  enquired  the  cause  of  his  son's  capture. 
Carter  told  him  of  John's  assault  upon  his  wife,  and  his  determination 
to  have  him  punished.  By  this  time,  traders  and  other  Indians  had 
arrived  and  proposed  to  arrange  the  matter.  John's  father  sent  him 
with  twenty  dollars  to  give  to  Mrs.  Carter,  and  ask  her  forgiveness 


MRS.    CARTER.  273 

for  the  injury  he  had  done ;  the  Major  agreeing  to  nothing  unless 
Mrs.  Carter  was  satisfied.  Mrs.  Carter  indignantly  refused  the 
proffered  money,  and  ordered  John  out  of  the  house ;  he  returned 
crestfallen  to  the  council  and  reported  the  failure  of  his  mission.  By 
this  time  Carter  became  much  enraged,  and  notwithstanding  he  was 
iii  the  midst  of  over  forty  Indians,  most  of  them  well  armed,  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  he  could  be  prevailed  upon  not  to  kill  John 
upon  the  spot.  After  a  long  parley,  however,  he  agreed  that  the 
affair  might  rest  for  the  present ;  but  on  this  condition,  that  if  John 
was  ever  caught  on  the  east  side  of  the  Cuyahoga  River  he  should 
certainly  hang  him." 


XVI. 

ELIZABETH    TAPPED, 

ELIZABETH  HARPER  was  the  second  daughte'  of  Alexander  and 
Elizabeth  Harper,  and  was  born  February  24th,  1784,  in  Harpers- 
field,  New  York.  She  was  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  her  age  when 
she  accompanied  her  parents  to  Ohio,  in  1798,  and  was  the  oldest 
daughter  who  went  with  them,  her  elder  sister  having  been  married 
some  years  and  remaining  in  their  old  home. 

The  labors  and  penis  of  commencing  a  settlement  in  an  almost 
unbroken  wilderness,  encountered  by  all  who  took  part  in  this  ad- 
venturous enterprise,  were  shared  without  a  murmur  by  the  young 
girl,  to  whom  fell,  of  course,  no  small  part  of  the  work  of  the  house- 
hold and  the  care  of  the  younger  children.  The  novelty  of  their 
mode  of  living,  and  the  wild  forest  scenery,  with  incessant  occupa- 
tion, caused  the  time  to  pass  speedily  and  pleasantly  through  the 
first  summer ;  but  with  the  approach  of  a  more  rigorous  season,  their 
hardships  commenced,  and  the  death  of  her  beloved  father  brought 
before  the  bereaved  family  the  realities  of  their  situation,  far  from 
early  friends,  and  isolated  from  the  comforts  of  civilization.  Eliza- 
beth suffered  much  at  this  time  of  gloom  and  distrust,  with  a  long- 
ing for  home,  and  fears  for  the  future ;  but  the  fortitude  and  resolu- 
tion with  which  Mrs.  Harper  sustained  herself  under  the  pressure  of 


ELIZABETH   TAPPEN.  275 

calamity,  had  a  due  influence  on  the  minds  of  her  children,  and  the 
feeling  of  discontent  was  soon  subdued. 

During  the  absence  of  James,  who  went  to  Canada,  as  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  sketch,  to  procure  provisions,  another  son,  William, 
broke  his  leg.  The  other  boys  were  seven  and  nine  years  old,  and 
as  they  could  do  nothing  of  consequence,  the  work  of  providing 
firewood  for  use  in  the  house  devolved  entirely,  for  some  four  weeks, 
upon  Elizabeth  and  her  younger  sister,  Mary.  It  was  no  easy  task 
to  cut,  split,  and  bring  home  all  the  fuel  consumed,  as  the  cabin  was 
very  open  and  large  fires  were  required. 

The  prospects  for  the  approaching  winter  were  very  dark,  owing  to 
the  scarcity  of  provision  and  the  want  of  comfortable  quarters; 
and  Mrs.  Harper  thought  it  best  to  send  her  younger  daughter 
to  stay  with  some  friends  at  a  settlement  in  Pennsylvania.  She 
determined  not  to  accept  the  invitation  for  herself,  and  Elizabeth 
decided  to  stay  with  her  mother.  The  winter  proved  one  of  un- 
usual severity,  and  the  settlers  suffered  greatly  from  the  want  of 
provisions  after  the  wreck  of  the  only  vessel  on  the  southern  shore 
of  Lake  Erie,  their  supplies  having  to  be  brought  from  Canada. 
Twice  the  little  community  was  reduced  almost  to  the  point  of  star- 
vation, having  to  relieve  the  cravings  of  hunger  with  strange  substi- 
tutes for  wholesome  food.  On  the  last  occasion,  when  the  men  sent 
for  supplies  returned,  they  brought  with  them  a  small  quantity  of 
coarse  Indian  meal  boiled,  which  was  called  samp.  Mrs.  Harper 
warmed  a  portion  of  this,  and  making  some  tea,  called  her  family 
to  partake  of  the  simple  meal,  then  a  luxury  privation  had  taught 
them  to  appreciate.  Most  of  the  children  felt  sick  from  absolute 
want,  and  disinclined  to  touch  the  food,  but  after  tasting  it,  they 
were  so  eager  for  more  that  it  required  all  the  mother's  firmness  to 
restrain  them  from  taking  more  than  they  could  bear  in  so  "weakened 
a  state. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  a  quantity  of  wheat  raised  in  Penn- 
sylvania, was  brought  on  hand-sleds  a  distance  of  fifty  miles  on  the 
ice  to  the  settlement,  and  ground  in  a  small  mill  belonging  to  one 
of  the  families.  It  was  Elizabeth's  work  to  grind  that  required  for 


276  PIOSTEER   WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

her -family.  She  would  take  a  peck  of  wheat  and  walk  two  miles 
and  a  half  to  grind  it,  then  carry  home  the  meal  and  make  it  into 
oread.  The  mill  would  grind  no  more  than  a  bushel  of  grain  in 
a  day  when  constantly  in  use,  and  three  families  were  to  be  sup- 
plied. The  men  being  occupied  in  bringing  the  wheat  and  attend- 
ing to  other  necessary  duties,  the  grinding  was  chiefly  done  by  the 
women. 

Many  of  the  cattle  belonging  to  the  settlers  died  this  winter,  and 
some  of  the  oxen  disappeared,  supposed  to  have  been  killed  and 
carried  off  by  the  Indians.  The  disaster  that  caused  so  much  in- 
convenience the  following  season — the  breaking  of  the  little  mill 
which  had  been  so  useful,  set  them  upon  the  invention  of  a  sub- 
rtitute.  A  hole  was  burned  and  scraped  in  the  top  of  an  oak  stump, 
jarge  enough  to  hold  a  quantity  of  corn  which  was  then  pounded  as 
fine  as  possible  with  a  pounder  attached  to  a  spring  pole  resembling 
a  well-sweep,  the  heavy  end  being  fastened  to  the  ground.  This 
contrivance  was  called  a  mortar.  Their  ovens  were  equally  primi- 
tive. As  neither  brick  nor  stone  was  to  be  had,  a  stump  was  hewn 
perfectly  flat  on  the  top,  and  a  slab  hewn  out  and  laid  upon  it.  On 
this  the  women  spread  a  layer  of  clay,  and  placed  upon  it  wood 
heaped  up  in  the  form  of  an  oven,  covering  the  whole  except  a  small 
opening  at  one  end,  with  a  thick  layer  of  clay.  It  stood  a  short 
time  to  dry,  and  then  the  wood  was  set  on  fire  and  burned  out. 
The  oven  thus  manufactured  proved  an  excellent'  one  for  use,  and 
served  as  a  model  for  all  the  ovens  in  the  country  for  some  years 
afterwards. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  second  year  of  the  settlement,  Mrs. 
Wheeler,  Mrs.  Harper's  eldest  daughter,  came  with  her  husband 
and  family,  and  they  took  up  their  residence  in  a  cabin  they  built 
half  a  mile  from  that  of  the  widow.  They  were  joined  by  several 
other  families  soon  afterwards. 

Some  anecdotes  of  their  encounters  with  the  wild  beasts  of  the 

/orest  are  remembered  in  family  tradition.     One  summer  evening  in 

>.hird  year,  when  William  Harper  was  returning  about  dusk 

*?G  Wheeler's,  his  attention  was  arrested  by  the  sight  of  a 


ELIZABETH   TAPPEN.  277 

bear  just  in  the  path  before  him,  engaged  in  devouring  a  hog  he  had 
just  killed.  William  fired  at  the  animal  without  apparent  effect, 
and  was  hastily  reloading  his  gun,  when  the  bear  desisted  from  his 
meal,  and  started  in  pursuit  of  the  new  enemy.  Fortunately,  a  large 
tree  was  near  at  hand,  which  the  young  man  ran  round,  the  bear 
closely  following  and  tearing  off  pieces  of  the  bark  in  his  fury. 
William  contrived,  while  dodging  him,  to  load  his  gun,  and  fired 
eleven  times  before  the  enraged  animal  fell  to  the  ground  ;  then,  com- 
pletely exhausted  by  the  efforts  he  had  made  to  keep  the  foe  at  bay, 
he  hastened  homeward,  and  met  his  brother,  who  alarmed  by  hearing 
reports  in  such  rapid  succession,  had  come  to  look  for  him.  On 
going  to  the  spot  the  next  evening,  they  found  the  bear  quite  dead, 
with  ten  of  the  eleven  balls  in  his  body,  the  tree  being  entirely  strip- 
ped of  bark  as  high  as  he  could  reach. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  Elizabeth,  while  staying  with  her 
sister  in  the  absence  of  her  husband,  was  alarmed  by  an  attack  from 
one  of  these  ferocious  animals.   A  crazy  woman  belonging  to  the  set- 
tlement had  come  to  stay  the  night  in  the  house.   Late  in  the  even- 
ing they  heard  a  noise  among  some  fowls  roosting  upon  the  project- 
ing logs  of  the  cabin,  and  going  to  the  door  they  distinctly  saw  a 
large  bear  standing  on  his  hind  legs,  trying  to  reach  the  fowls,  that 
crowded  together  in  their  terror  above  the  range   of  his  paws.     It 
required  all  Elizabeth's  presence  of  mind  and  energy  to  prevent  the 
lunatic  from  rushing  out ;  but  by  alarming  her  fears  she  persuaded 
her  to  be  quiet,  and  fastened  the  doors.     A  more  severe  encounter 
took  place  some  years  afterwards,  in  the  house  of  her  brother.     A 
hungry  bear  broke  into  the  yard  and  attempted  to  catch  a  goose 
wandering  on  the  premises.     Mrs.  Harper,  the  sister-in-law,  hastily 
called  to  her  children  to  come  in,   and  barred  the  door ;  but  the 
fierce  creature  had  heard  the  sound  of  her  voice,  and  bent  on  secur- 
ing his  prey,  sprang  through  the  open  window  and  attacked  her. 
Her  clothes  were  much  torn,  and  her  arm  badly  scratched ;  but  her 
husband  and  a  man  who  chanced  to  be  with  him  coming  to  the 
rescue,  they  beat  off  the  bear  with  clubs,  and  killed  him.    The 


i 


278  riONEEK    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

fright  of  Mrs.  Harper  had  such  an  effect  upon  her  that  she  suffered 
in  health  for  many  years. 

When  the  school  was  established  in  1802,  the  earliest  on  the 
Reserve,  Elizabeth  Harper  was  employed  to  teach  it.  The  follow- 
ing winter  Abraham  Tappen  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  it, 
and  some  of  the  scholars  came  from  distant  settlements.  The 
school  was  taught  alternately  by  Tappen  and  Miss  Harper  during 
the  winter  and  summer,  for  some  years.  Religious  meetings  were 
established  about  the  same  time. 

In  1806,  Elizabeth  was  married  to  Abraham  Tappen,  then 
engaged  as  a  surveyor,  and  employed  in  equalizing  the  claims  of 
land-holders.  His  duties  compelled  him  to  be  absent  from  home 
during  a  great  part  of  the  time,  and  after  they  were  settled,  the 
labor  of  superintending  the  clearing  of  a  new  farm  devolved  upon 
the  wife.  The  work  was  done,  however,  with  an  energy  and  cheer- 
ful spirit  worthy  the  daughter  of  such  a  mother  ;  and  a  substantial 
foundation  was  thus  laid  for  future  comfort  and  prosperity.  For  a 
few  years  the  youthful  couple  lived  in  a  small  log  hut  containing 
but  one  room,  in  which  it  was  necessary  very  frequently  to  enter- 
tain company,  as  Tappen's  acquaintance  and  business  associations 
with  land  owners  and  land  agents  brought  strangers  continually  to 
his  house,  and  the  duties  of  hospitality  were  esteemed  sacred  in  the 
most  primitive  settlements.  Mrs.  Tappen  was  often  obliged  to 
spread  the  floor  with  beds  for  the  accommodation  of  her  guests; 
and  the  abundance  of  her  table,  and  the  excellent  quality  of  her 
cooking,  could  be  attested  by  many  who  from  time  to  time  were  the 
chance  inmates  of  her  cheerful  home.  At  that  early  period  an  unaf- 
fected kindness  of  feeling,  poorly  replaced  in  a  more  advanced  state 
of  society  by  the  conventionalities  of  good  breeding,  prevailed  among 
the  settlers,  and  some  families  were  sincerely  attached  to  each  other. 
Good  offices  were  interchanged  between  neighbors  every  day,  and  a 
friendly  intercourse  maintained  by  frequent,  visits.  These  were  often 
paid  from  one  to  another,  even  when  a  journey  of  fifteen  miles  on 
horseback,  occupying  a  whole  day,  had  to  be  performed.  The 
alarms  and  accidents  to  which  a  new  settlement  is  liable,  tended 


ELIZABETH   TAPPEN.  279 

also  to  bind  the  emigrants  together  for  mutual  assistance  and  pro- 
tection. One  of  a  number  of  similar  incidents  which  occurred  in 
1811,  caused  much  trouble  to  the  Harper  family.  A  son  of  Mrs. 
Wheeler,  nine  years  of  age,  had  gone  out  alone  to  gather  chestnuts. 
The  afternoon  was  sultry,  and  he  was  thinly  clad,  but  it  was  not 
long  before  a  terrible  storm  of  wind  and  rain  came  on,  prostrating 
acres  of  the  forest,  and  swelling  the  streams  in  a  little  while  to 
torrents.  Just  before  dark,  Mrs.  Tappen  received  a  hasty  summons 
to  go  to  her  sister,  whom  she  found  half  frantic  with  fears  for  the 
missing  boy.  The  alarm  quickly  spread,  the  neighbors  assembled, 
and  people  came  from  a  distance  of  fifteen  and  twenty  miles  to  aid 
in  the  search,  which  was  continued  through  the  next  day  and  the 
following  one,  without  success,  till  near  the  close  of  the  third  day, 
when  the  child  was  found  in  so  exhausted  a  state  that  in  attempting 
to  rise  he  fell  upon  his  face.  His  limbs  were  torn  and  filled  with 
porcupine's  quills. 

Not  very  long  afterwards,  another  boy  belonging  to  the  settle- 
ment was  lost  in  the  woods,  and  the  members  of  his  family,  in  the 
search  for  him,  called  his  name  aloud  repeatedly.  It  may  not  be 
generally  known  that  the  panther,  which  at  this  time  came  frequently 
near  the  dwellings  of  man,  emits  a  cry  resembling  a  human  voice 
in  distress.  The  calling  of  the  boy's  name  was  several  times 
answered,  as  his  friends  supposed,  and  after  following  the  sound  and 
hallooing  some  time,  they  discovered  that  the  voice  was  not  human. 
In  a  state  of  torturing  anxiety  and  apprehension,  they  were  obliged 
to  wait  for  day-light,  when  the  boy  made  his  appearance.  He  had 
wandered  in  an  opposite  direction  from  the  panther's  locality,  and 
had  found  shelter  at  a  house,  where  he  remained  all  night. 

The  experience  of  Mrs.  Tappen  during  her  residence  in  the  back- 
woods was  full  of  such  incidents.  But  the  forest  around  them 
gradually  receded  before  the  axe  of  the  enterprising  emigrant,  the 
country  became  cleared  and  cultivated,  and  with  the  progress  of 
improvement  the  condition  of  the  early  settlers  became  more  safe 
and  comfortable.  Judge  Tappen  and  Mrs.  Tappen  still  reside  on 
the  same  farm  which  they  first  reduced  to  cultivation,  about  half  a 


280  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

mile  from  the  spot  where  her  father  fixed  his  dwelling  on  his  first 
removal  to  the  country.  The  little  village  of  Unionville,  in  Lake 
County,  Ohio,  has  been  built  partly  on  Judge  Tappen's  farm,  and 
partly  on  the  land  formerly  owned  by  his  wife,  the  county  line  run- 
ning through  it. 


XVII. 

EEBECCA    HEALD. 

IT  was  the  lot  of  this  matron  to  have  the  story  of  her  life  associated 
with  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  melancholy  events  recorded 
in  the  annals  of  border  warfare.  She  was  the  wife  of  Capt.  Heald, 
commandant  at  Fort  Dearborn,  Chicago,  and  bore  a  part  in  the 
scenes  of  the  massacre  that  took  place  there  on  the  15th  August, 
1812.  A  brief  notice  of  her  will  be  an  appropriate  introduction  to 
an  account  of  that  memorable  occurrence. 

Rebecca  Wells  was  the  daughter  of  Col.  Wells  of  Kentucky. 
Her  uncle,  with  whom  she  resided  in  early  life,  was  Capt.  William 
Wells.  The  story  of  this  brave  man,  who  forms  so  conspicuous  a 
figure  in  our  frontier  annals,  was  a  singular  romance.  When  a  child 
he  was  captured  by  the  Miami  Indians,  and  became  the  adopted 
son -of  Little  Turtle,  the  most  eminent  forest  warrior  and  statesman 
between  Pontiac  and  Tecumseh,  and  the  leader  of  the  confederated 
tribes.  When  old  enough,  the  captive  was  compelled  to  do  service, 
and  took  a  distinguished  part  in  the  defeats  of  Harmar  and  St. 
Clair.  It  is  said  that  his  sagacity  foresaw  that  the  white  men  would 
be  roused  by  these  reverses  to  put  forth  their  superior  power  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  command  success  ;  and  also  that  a  desire  to  return 
to  his  own  people  influenced  him  to  abandon  the  savages.  "  His 
mode  of  announcing  this  determination  was  in  accordance  with  the 


282  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

simple  and  sententious  habits  of  forest  life.  He  was  traversing  the 
woods  one  morning  with  his  adopted  father,  the  Little  Turtle,  when 
pointing  to  the  heavens,  he  said,  '  When  the  sun  reaches  the  meri- 
dian, I  leave  you  for  the  whites ;  and  whenever  you  meet  me  in 
battle,  you  must  kill  me,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  kill  you.1  The  bonds 
of  affection  and  respect  which  had  bound  these  two  singular  and 
highly  gifted  men  together  were  not  severed  or  weakened  by  this 
abrupt  declaration."  Wells  soon  after  joined  the  army  of  Gen. 
Wayne,  who  had  taken  command  of  the  troops  after  the  resignation 
of  St.  Glair,  and  by  his  knowledge  of  the  forest,  and  of  the  Indian 
haunts,  habits,  and  modes  of  warfare,  became  an  invaluable  auxiliary 
to  the  Americans.  He  commanded  a  very  effective  division  of 
spies,  of  whom  were  the  best  woodsmen  on  the  frontier,  served 
faithfully  and  fought  bravely  through  the  campaign,  and  after 
Wayne's  treaty  at  Greenville  in  1795  had  restored  peace  between 
the  Indians  and  the  whites,  rejoined  his  foster  father,  Little  Turtle, 
their  friendship  remaining  uninterrupted  till  the  death  of  the  chief. 

Gen.  Hunt  mentions  an  incident  which  may  show  the  sanguinary 
spirit  of  the  border  warfare.  Capt.  Wells  made  an  excursion  with 
Lieut.  McClenan  and  eleven  men  into  the  enemy's  country,  following 
a  trail  of  Indians  for  two  days.  They  came  in  sight  of  them  just  as 
they  were  about  encamping  for  the  night,  and  waited  till  it  was 
dark  to  make  their  attack.  Wells,  having  then  assumed  the  dress 
of  an  Indian  warrior,  advanced  with  his  men,  who,  on  the  first 
alarm  given  by  the  savages,  threw  themselves  on  the  ground,  while 
the  Captain  continued  to  approach.  Supposing  him  a  friend,  the 
Indians  met  and  took  him  into  their  camp,  he  taking  the  precaution 
to  seat  himself  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  war-party,  and  within 
view  of  McClenan.  He  then  announced  himself  as  from  the  British 
fort  Miami,  and  commenced  giving  the  party,  consisting  of  twenty- 
two  Indians  and  a  squaw,  the  news  from  their  British  allies.  The 
squaw  meanwhile  placed  over  the  fire  a  kettle  full  of  hominy,  and 
as  it  began  to  boil,  stirred  it  with  a  ladle,  when  the  party  of  white 
men,  mistaking  her  motions  for  the  concerted  signal  of  attack,  fired 
upon  the  savages.  The  poor  squaw  received  a  shot,  and  fell  across 


REBECCA   HEALD.  283 

the  fire  ;  the  Captain  saw  that  his  life  depended  on  prompt  action, 
and  grasping  his  tomahawk,  commenced  the  work  of  slaughter, 
while  his  men  rushed  into  the  midst.  All  the  Indians  were  killed 
except  three,  who  made  their  escape.  Both  the  Captain  and  Lieu- 
tenant were  wounded. 

In  consideration  of  his  services,  Capt.  Wells  was  appointed  Indian 
agent  at  Fort  Wayne.  At  this  post  he  continued  until  the  war  of 
1812,  soon  after  the  outbreak  of  which  he  departed  for  the  purpose 
of  escorting  the  troops  from  Chicago  to  Fort  Wayne. 

The  gentleman*  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  much  of  the  infor- 
mation contained  in  this  sketch,  visited  Capt.  Wells  at  Fort  Wayne 
in  1809,  and  there  formed  an  acquaintance  with  his  niece.  One 
of  his  juvenile  amusements  was  setting  up  a  target  for  her  to  shoot 
at  with  a  rifle.  She  and  Capt.  Heald  were  accustomed  to  go  out 
with  their  rifles  to  shoot  at  the  bunghole  of  a  barrel  at  a  distance  of 
one  hundred  yards,  and  from  continual  practice  Miss  Wells  had  be- 
come extremely  expert  in  that  soldierlike  exercise.  The  Captain 
was  at  that  time  evidently  a  candidate  for  the  favor  of  the  fair 
marks  woman,  and  took  great  pleasure  in  instructing  her  in  every 
species  of  military  accomplishment  which  she  took  a  fancy  to  learn. 
Shortly  after  this  period  they  were  married;  and  in  1812  Capt. 
Heald  was  in  command  of  the  garrison  at  Chicago.  This,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  at  that  time  a  remote  outpost  of  the  American 
frontier,  scarcely  to  be  called  a  settlement,  as  the  only  inhabitants 
without  the  garrison  were  a  few  Canadians  and  the  family  of  a  gen- 
tleman engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  who  had  removed  from  St.  Joseph's 
in  1804.  He  was  a  great  favorite  among  the  Indians,  who  called 
him  by  a  name  signifying  "  the  Silverman,"  from  the  circumstance 
of  his  furnishing  them  with  rings,  brooches,  and  other  ornaments  of 
that  metal.  His  influence  with  the  tribes  wherever  his  trading-posts 
were  dispersed,  made  him  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  British,  and 
being  at  length  taken  prisoner,  he  was  detained  in  captivity  till  the 
close  of  the  war. 

The  peninsula  of  Michigan  was  then  a  wilderness,  peopled  only 

*  Gen.  John  E.  Hunt,  of  Maumee  City,  Ohio. 


28-1  'PIONEER  WOMEN  OF  THE  WEST. 

by  savages ;  and  intercourse  between  the  posts  of  Fort  Wayne, 
Detroit,  and  Chicago,  was  carried  on  by  such  hardy  travellers  as  ven- 
tured occasionally  to  encounter  the  perils  and  fatigues  of  the  journey, 
guided  by  a  devious  Indian  trail,  encamping  at  night  beside  a  stream, 
or  seeking  shelter  in  some  hospitable  wigwam,  or  even  lodging 
among  the  branches  of  the  trees.*  The  fort  at  Chicago  was  con- 
structed with  two  blockhouses  on  the  southern  side,  and  a  sallyport 
or  subterranean  passage  from  the  parade-ground  to  the  river,  de- 
signed either  to  facilitate  an  escape,  or  as  a  means  of  supplying  the 
garrison  with  water  during  a  siege.  The  chief  officers  at  this  time, 
besides  Capt.  Heald,  were  very  young  men ;  the  command  num- 
bered about  seventy-five  men,  not  all  of  whom  were  able  to  do 
service.  The  garrison  had  maintained  a  constant  and  friendly  inter- 
course with  the  neighboring  Indians,  and  as  the  principal  chiefs  of  all 
the  bands  in  the  vicinity  seemed  to  be  on  the  most  amicable  tennis 
with  the  Americans,  no  interruption  of  their  harmony  was  anticipated. 

After  the  fatal  event,  however,  many  circumstances  were  recol- 
lected, which  should  have  opened  their  eyes.  One  in-stance  may  be 
mentioned.  In  the  spring  previous,  two  Indians  of  the  Calumet 
band  came  to  the  post,  on  a  visit  to  the  commanding  officer.  As  they 
passed  through  the  quarters,  they  saw  Mrs.  Heald  and  another  lady 
playing  at  battledore,  and  one  of  the  savages  said  to  the  interpreter, 
"The  white  chiefs' wives  are  amusing  themselves;  it  will  not  be 
long  before  they  are  hoeing  in  our  cornfields."  This  speech,  then 
regarded  as  merely  an  idle  threat,  or  an  expression  of  jealous  feeling 
at  the  contrast  with  the  situation  of  their  own  women,  was  remem- 
bered mournfully  some  months  afterwards. 

The  first  alarm  was  given  on  the  evening  of  the  Vth  of  April, 
1812.  Near  the  junction  of  Chicago  river  with  Lake  Michigan, 
directly  opposite  the  fort,  from  which  it  was  separated  by  the  river 
and  a  few  rods  of  sloping  green  turf,  stood  the  dwelling-house  and 
trading  establishment  of  Mr.  Kinzie.  This  gentleman  was  at  home, 

*  I  have  availed  myself  throughout  this  sketch,  of  a  narrative  of  the  mas- 
sacre printed  at  Chicago  in  1844 ;  said  to  be  written  by  an  accomplished  lady 
residing  in  that  city. 


REBECCA    HEALD.  285 

playing  the  violin  for  the  amusement  of  his  children ;  they  were 
dancing  merrily,  awaiting  the  return  of  their  mother,  who  had  gone 
a  short  distance  up  the  river  to  visit  a  sick  neighbor.  Suddenly  the 
door  was  thrown  open,  and  Mrs.  Kinzie  rushed  in,  pale  with  affright, 
and  hardly  able  to  articulate — "  The  Indians  !  The  Indians!  They 
are  up  at  Lee's  place,  killing  and  scalping !"  This  was  a  farm  inter- 
sected by  the  river,  about  four  miles  from  its  mouth.  Mrs.  Kinzie, 
when  she  had  breath  enough  to  speak,  informed  her  startled  family 
that  while  she  had  been  "  at  Burns',  a  man  and  boy  were  seen  run- 
ning down  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river ;  and  that  they  had 
called  across  to  Burns'  family  to  save  themselves,  for  the  Indians 
were  at  Lee's  place,  from  which  they  had  just  made  their  escape." 
The  fugitives  were  on  their  way  to  the  fort. 

All  was  now  consternation.  The  family  were  hurried  into  two 
old  pirogues  moored  near  the  house,  and  paddled  across  the  river 
to  take  refuge  in  the  fort,  where  the  man — a  discharged  soldier — 
and  boy  had  already  told  their  story.  In  the  afternoon,  a  party  of 
ten  or  twelve  Indians,  dressed  and  painted,  had  arrived  at  the  house, 
and  according  to  the  custom  among  savages,  entered  and  seated  them- 
selves without  ceremony.  Something  in  their  appearance  and  manner 
had  excited  the  suspicions  of  one  of  the  family — a  Frenchman — who 
observed,  "  I  do  not  like  the  looks  of  these  Indians ;  they  are  none  of 
our  folks.  I  know  by  their  dress  and  paint  that  they  are  notPotto- 
wattamies."  Upon  this  the  soldier  bade  the  boy  follow  him,  and 
walked  leisurely  towards  the  two  canoes  tied  near  the  bank.  Some 
of  the  Indians  asked  where  he  was  going ;  on  which  he  pointed  to 
the  cattle  standing  among  the  haystacks  on  the  opposite  bank  and 
made  signs  that  they  must  go  and  fodder  them  ;  and  that  they 
would  return  and  get  their  supper.  He  got  into  one  canoe  and  the 
boy  into  the  other.  When  they  had  gained  the  other  side  of  the 
narrow  stream,  they  pulled  some  hay  for  the  cattle,  making  a  show 
of  collecting  them,  and  when  they  had  gradually  made  a  circuit,  so 
that,  their  movements  were  concealed  by  the  haystacks,  they  took  to 
the  woods  near,  and  made  for  the  fort.  They  had  run  about  a 
^quarter  of  a  mile,  when  they  heard  the  discharge  of  two  guns,  and 


286  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

when  they  came  opposite  Burns'  they  called  to  warn  the  family  of 
their  danger  and  hastened  on. 

A  party  of  five  or  six  soldiers,  commanded  by  Ronan,  was  sent 
from  the  fort  to  the  rescue  of  Burns'  family  :  they  went  up  the  river 
in  a  scow,  took  the  mother  with  her  infant  scarcely  a  day  old,  on 
her  bed  to  the  boat,  and  conveyed  her  with,  the  rest  to  the  fort. 

The  same  afternoon  a  corporal  and  six  soldiers  had  gone  up  the 
river  to  fish.  Fearing  that  they  might  encounter  the  savages,  the 
commanding  officer  at  the  fort  now  ordered  a  cannon  to  be  fired  to 
warn  them  of  danger.  Hearing  the  signal,  they  put  out  their  torches 
and  dropped  down  the  river  in  silence.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country  since  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe 
the  preceding  November,  caused  every  man  to  be  on  the  alert,  and 
the  slightest  alarm  was  sufficient  to  ensure  vigilance.  When  the 
fishing  party  reached  "  Lee's  place,"  it  was  proposed  to  stop  and  bid 
the  inmates  be  on  their  guard,  as  the  signal  from  the  fort  indicated 
danger.  All  was  still  around  the  house,  but  they  groped  their  way, 
and  as  the  corporal  leaped  the  fence  into  the  small  enclosure,  he 
placed  his  hand  upon  the  dead  body  of  a  man,  who  he  soon  ascer- 
tained had  been  scalped.  The  faithful  dog  stood  guarding  the  life- 
less remains  of  his  master.  The  soldiers  retreated  to  their  canoes, 
and  reached  the  fort  about  eleven  o'clock.  The  next  morning  a 
party  of  citizens  and  soldiers  went  to  Lee's  and  found  two  dead 
bodies,  which  were  buried  near  the  fort.  It  was  subsequently  ascer- 
tained, from  traders  in  the  Indian  country,  that  the  perpetrators  of 
this  bloody  deed  were  a  party  of  Winnebagoes,  who  had  come  into 
the  neighborhood  determined  to  kill  every  white  man  without  the 
walls  of  the  fort.  Hearing  the  report  of  the  cannon,  they  set  off  on 
their  retreat  to  their  homes  on  Rock  river. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  place,  consisting  of  a  few  discharged  soldiers 
and  some  families  of  half-breeds,  now  entrenched  themselves  in  the 
"  agency  house,"  a  log  building  standing  a  few  rods  from  the  fort. 
It  had  piazzas  in  front  and  rear,  which  were  planked  up ;  portholes 
were  cut,  and  sentinels  posted  at  night.  The  enemy  was  supposed 
to  be  still  lurking  in  the  neighborhood,  and  an  order  was  issued  for- 


UEBECCA    HEALD.  .        287 

bidding  any  soldier  or  citizen  to  leave  the  vicinity  of  the  garrison 
without  a  guard.  One  night  a  sergeant  and  private  who  were  out 
on  patrol,  came  suddenly  upon  a  party  of  Indians  in  the  pasture 
adjoining  the  esplanade,  and  fired  upon  them  as  they  made  good 
their  retreat.  The  next  morning  traces  of  blood  were  found,  extend- 
ing some  distance  into  the  prairie.  On  another  occasion  the  savages 
entered  the  esplanade  to  steal  the  horses,  and  not  finding  them  in 
the  stable,  made  themselves  amends  for  their  disappointment  by 
stabbing  the  sheep  and  then  turning  them  loose.  The  poor  animals 
ran  towards  the  fort;  the  alarm  was  given,  and  parties  were  sent 
out,  but  the  marauders  escaped. 

These  occurrences  were  enough  to  keep  the  inmates  of  the  fort  in 
a  state  of  apprehension,  but  they  were  no  further  disturbed  for  many 
weeks.  On  the  afternoon  of  August  7th,  a  Pottowattamie  chief 
arrived  at  the  post,  bearing  despatches  from  Gen.  Hull,  at  Detroit, 
which  announced  the  declaration  of  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  ;  also  that  the  island  of  Mackinaw  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  British. 

The  orders  to  the  commanding  officer,  Capt.  Heald,  were  "  to 
evacuate  the  post,  if  practicable,  and  in  that  event,  to  distribute  all 
the  United  States'  property  contained  in  the  fort  and  the  United 
States'  factory  or  agency,  among  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood." 
After  having  delivered  his  despatches,  the  chief,  Winnemeg,  requested 
a  private  interview  with  Mr.  Kinzie,  who  had  taken  up  his  residence 
within  the  g'arrison,  stated  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  purport 
of  the  communications,  and  earnestly  advised  that  the  post  should 
not  be  evacuated,  since  the  garrison  was  well  supplied  with  ammu- 
nition and  provision  for  six  months.  It  would  be  better  to  remain 
till  a  reinforcement  could  be  sent  to  their  assistance.  In  case,  how- 
ever, Capt.  Heald  should  decide  upon  leaving  the  fort,  it  should  bc^ 
done  immediately,  as  the  Potto wattamies,  through  whose  countri 
they  must  pass,  were  ignorant  of  the  object  of  Winnemeg's  mission, 
and  a  forced  march  might  be  made  before  the  hostile  Indians  were 
prepared  to  intercept  them. 
..  Capt.  Heald  was  immediately  informed  of  this  advice,  and  replied 


288  P10.NEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

that  it  was  his  intention  to  evacuate  the  fort ;  but  that,  inasmuch 
as  he  had  received  orders  to  distribute  the  United  States'  property, 
lie  would  not  leave  till  he  had  collected  the  Indians  in  the  neigh- 
borhood and  made  an  equitable  division  among  them.  Winnemeg 
then  suggested  the  expediency  of  marching  out  and  leaving  all  things 
standing,  for  while  the  savages  were  dividing  the  spoils  the  troops 
might  possibly  effect  their  retreat  unmolested.  This  counsel,  though 
strongly  seconded,  was  not  approved  by  the  commanding  officer. 

The  order  for  evacuating  the  post  was  read  the  next  morning 
upon  parade,  and  in  the  course  of  the  day,  as  no  council  was  called, 
the  officers  waited  upon  Capt.  Heald,  and  urged  him  to  relinquish 
his  design  on  account  of  the  improbability  that  the  command  would 
be  permitted  to  pass  in  safety  to  Fort  Wayne  by  the  savages,  whose 
thirst  for  slaughter  could  hardly  be  controlled  by  the  few  individuals 
who  were  supposed  to  have  friendly  feelings  towards  the  Americans. 
Their  march  must  of  necessity  be  slow,  as  a  number  of  women  and 
children,  with  some  invalid  soldiers,  would  accompany  the  detach- 
ment. Their  advice,  therefore,  was  to  remain,  and  fortify  themselves 
as  strongly  as  possible,  in  hopes  that  succor  from  the  other  side  of 
the  peninsula  would  arrive  before  they  could  be  attacked  by  the 
British  from  Mackinaw.  In  reply  to  this  remonstrance  Capt.  Heald 
urged  that  he  should  be  censured  for  remaining  when  there  appeared 
a  prospect  of  a  safe  march,  and  that  on  the  wholo  he  deemed  it 
most  expedient  to  assemble  the  Indians,  distribute  the  property 
among  them,  and  then  ask  of  them  an  escort  to  Fort  Wayne,  with 
the  promise  of  a  considerable  reward  upon  their  safe  arrival,  adding 
that  he  had  full  confidence  in  the  friendly  professions  of  the  savages, 
from  whom,  as  well  as  from  the  soldiers,  the  capture  of  Mackinaw 
had  been  kept  a  profound  secret. 

The  project  was  considered  a  mad  one,  and  much  and  increasing 
dissatisfaction  prevailed  among  the  officers  and  soldiers.  The  In- 
dians became  every  day  more  unruly.  Entering  the  fort  in  defiance 
of  the  sentinels,  they  often  made  their  way  without  ceremony  to  the 
quarters  of  the  officers.  On  one  occasion  a  savage  took  up  a  rifle, 
and  fired  it  in  Mrs.  Heald's  parlor.  Some  supposed  this  a  signal 


KEBECCA   HEALD.  289 

for  an  attack,  as  there  was  vehement  agitation  among  the  old  chiefs 
and  squaws-;  but  the  manifestation  of  hostile  feeling  was  suppressed, 
and  the  Captain  continued  to  feel  confidence  in  such  an  amicable  dis- 
position among  the  Indians,  as  would  ensure  the  safety  of  his  troops 
on  their  march  to  Fort  Wayne. 

The  inmates  of  the  fort,  meanwhile,  suffered  greatly  from  appre- 
hension, scarcely  daring  to  yield  to  sleep  at  night,  and  a  general 
gloom  and  distress  prevailed.  The  Indians  being  assembled  from 
the  neighboring  villages,  a  council  was  held  with  them  on  the  12th, 
Capt.  Heald  alone  attending  on  the  part  of  the  military,  as  his  offi- 
cers refused  to  accompany  him.  Information  had  secretly  been 
brought  to  them  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  young  chiefs  to  fall 
upon  them  and  murder  them  while  in  council,  but  the  Captain 
could  not  be  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  this,  and  therefore  lef*  the 
garrison,  while  the  officers  who  remained  took  command  of  the 
block-houses  which  overlooked  the  esplanade  on  which  the  council 
was  held,  opened  the  port-holes,  and  pointed  the  cannon  so  as  to 
command  the  whole  assembly. 

"  In  council,  the  commanding  officer  informed  the  Indians  of  his 
intention  to  distribute  among  them,  the  next -day,  not  only  the  goods 
lodged  in  the  United  States'  Factory,  but  also  the  ammunition  and 
provisions  with  which  the  garrison  was  well  supplied.  He  then 
requested  of  the  Pottowattamies  an  escort  to  Fort  Wayne,  promising 
them  a  liberal  reward  upon  their  arrival  there,  in  addition  to  the 
presents  they  were  now  to  receive.  With  many  professions  of 
friendship  and  good- will  the  savages  assented  to  all  he  proposed,  and 
promised  all  he  required. 

"  After  the  council,  Mr.  Kinzie,  who  understood  well,  not  only  the 
Indian  character,  but  the  present  tone  of  feeling  among  them, 
waited  upon  Capt.  Heald,  in  the  hope  of  opening  his  eyes  to  the 
present  posture  of  affairs.  He  reminded  him  that  since  the  trouble 
with  the  Indians  upon  the  Wabash  and  its  vicinity,  there  had 
appeared  a  settled  plan  of  hostilities  towards  the  whites ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  Americans  to 
withhold  from  them  whatever  would  enable  them  to  carry  on  their 
13 


290  .          PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   T11E    WEST. 

warfare  upon  the  defenceless  settlers  on  the  frontier.  Mr.  Kinzie 
recalled  to  Capt.  Heald  the  fact  that  he  had  himself  left  home  for 
Detroit  the  preceding  autumn,  and  receiving,  when  he  had  pro- 
ceeded as  far  as  De  Charrne's,*  the  intelligence  of  the  battle  of 
Tippecanoe,  he  had  immediately  returned  to  Chicago,  that  he 
might  despatch  orders  to  his  traders  to  furnish  no  ammunition  to 
the  Indians ;  all  that  they  had  on  hand  was  therefore  secreted,  and 
such  of  the  traders  as  had  not  already  started  for  their  wintering- 
grounds,  took  neither  powder  nor  shot  with  their  outfit. 

"  Capt.  Heald  was  struck  with  the  impolicy  of  furnishing 
the  enemy,  (for  such  they  must  now  consider  their  old  neighbors,) 
with  arms  against  himself,  and  determined  to  destroy  all  the  am- 
munition, excepting  what  should  be  necessary  for  the  use  of 
his  own  troops.  On  the  13th,  the  goods,  consisting  of  blankets, 
broadcloths,  calicos,  paints,  etc.,  were  distributed,  as  stipulated. 
The  same  evening,  part  of  the  ammunition  and  liquor  was 
carried  into  the  sally-port,  and  thrown  into  a  well,  which  had  been 
dug  there  to  supply  the  garrison  with  water  in  case  of  emergency ; 
the  remainder  was  transported  as  secretly  as  possible  through  the 
northern  gate,  and  the  heads  of  the  barrels  were  knocked  in, 
and  the  contents  poured  into  the  river.  The  same  fate  was  shared 
by  a  large  quantity  of  alcohol  which  had  been  deposited  in  a  ware- 
house opposite  the  fort.  The  Indians  suspected  what  was  going  on, 
and  crept  as  near  the  scene  of  action  as  possible,  but  a  vigilant 
watch  was  kept  up,  and  no  one  was  suffered  to  approach  but  those 
engaged  in  the  affair.  All  the  muskets  not  necessary  for  the  march 
were  broken  up  and  thrown  into  the  well,  together  with  bags  of  shot, 
flints,  gun-screws,  etc. 

"  Some  relief  to  the  general  despondency  was  afforded  by 
the  arrival,  on  the  14th  of  August,  of  Capt.  Wells,  with  fifteen 
friendly  Miamies.  He  had  heard  at  Fort  Wayne  of  the  order  for 
evacuating  Fort  Dearborn,  and  knowing  the  hostile  determination 
of  the  Pottowattamies,  had  made  a  rapid  march  across  the  country 
to  prevent  the  exposure  of  his  relative,  Capt.  Heald,  and  his  troops 
*  A  trading  establishment— now  Ypsilanti, 


KEBECCA   IIEALD.  291 

to  certain  destruction.  But  he  came  too  late.  When  he  reached 
the  post,  he  found  that  the  ammunition  had  been  destroyed, 
and  the  provisions  given  to  the  Indians.  There  was  therefore 
no  alternative,  and  every  preparation  was  made  for  the  march  of  the 
troops  on  the  following  morning. 

"On  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  a  second  council  was 
held  with  the  Indians.  They  expressed  great  indignation  at  the 
destruction  of  the  ammunition  and  liquor.  Notwithstanding  the 
precautions  that  had  been  taken  to  preserve  secrecy,  the  noise 
of  knocking  in  the  heads  of  the  barrels  had  too  plainly  betrayed 
the  operations  of  the  preceding  night;  and  so  great  was  the 
quantity  of  liquor  thrown  into  the  river,  that  the  taste  of  the  water, 
the  next  morning,  was,  as  one  expressed  it,  t  strong  grog.'  Mur- 
murs and  threats  were  everywhere  heard  among  the  savages,  and  it 
was  evident  that  the  first  moment  of  exposure  would  subject 
the  troops  to  some  manifestation  of  their  disappointment  and 
resentment. 

"  Among  the  chiefs  were  several  who,  although  they  shared  the 
general  hostile  feeling  of  their  tribe  towards  the  Americans,  yet 
retained  a  personal  regard  for  the  troops  at  this  post,  and  for 
the  few  white  citizens  of  the  place.  These  exerted  their  utmost 
influence  to  allay  the  revengeful  feelings  of  the  young  men,  and  to 
avert  their  sanguinary  designs,  but  without  effect.  On  the  evening 
succeeding  the  last  council,  Black  Partridge,  a  conspicuous  chief, 
entered  the  quarters  of  the  commanding  officer.  '  Father,'  said  he, 
' 1  come  to  deliver  up  to  you  the  medal  I  wear.  It  was  given  me 
by  the  Americans,  and  I  have  long  worn  it,  in  token  of  our  mutual 
friendship.  But  our  young  men  are  resolved  to  imbrue  their  hands 
in  the  blood  of  the  whites.  I  cannot  restrain  them,  and  I  will  not 
wear  a  token  of  peace  while  I  am  compelled  to  act  as  an  enemy.' 
Had  further  evidence  been  wanting,  this  circumstance  would  have 
sufficiently  proved  to  the  devoted  band  the  justice  of  their  melan- 
choly anticipations.  Nevertheless,  they  went  steadily  on  with  the 
necessary  preparations.  Of  the  ammunition  there  had  been  reserved 
but  twenty-five  rounds,  besides  one  box  of  cartridges,  contained  ID 


292  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   AVEST. 

the  baggage-wagons.  This  must,  under  any  circumstances  of  dan- 
ger, have  proved  an  inadequate  supply,  but  the  prospect  of  a 
fatiguing  march  forbade  their  embarrassing  themselves  with  a  larger 
quantity. 

"  The  morning  of  the  15th  arrived.  •  All  things  were  in  readi- 
ness, and  nine  o'clock  was  the  hour  named  for  starting.  Mr.  Kinzie 
had  volunteered  to  accompany  the  troops  in  their  march,  and  had 
entrusted  his  family  to  the  care  of  some  friendly  Indians,  who  had 
promised  to  convey  them  in  a  boat  around  the  head  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, to  a  point*  on  the  St.  Joseph's  river ;  there  to  be  joined  by 
the  troops,  should  the  prosecution  of  their  march  be  permitted  them. 
Early  in  the  morning  he  received  a  message  from  a  chief  of  the  St. 
Joseph's  band,  informing  him  that  mischief  was  intended  by  the 
Pottowattamies  who  had  promised  to  escort  the  detachment ;  and 
urging  him  to  relinquish  his  design  of  accompanying  the  troops  by 
land,  promising  that  the  boat  which  should  contain  himself  and 
family,  should  be  permitted  to  pass  in  safety  to  St.  Joseph's.  Mr. 
Kinzie  declined  accepting  this  proposal,  as  he  believed  that  his  pres- 
ence might  operate  as  a  restraint  on  the  fury  of  the  savages,  so 
warmly  were  the  greater  part  attached  to  himself  and  family.  The 
party  in  the  boat  consisted  of  Mrs.  Kinzie  and  her  four  younger 
children,  a  clerk,  two  servants,  and  the  boatmen,  besides  the  Uvo 
Indians  who  acted  as  their  protectors.  The  boat  started,  but  had 
scarcely  reached  the  mouth  of  the  river,  when  another  messenger 
from  the  chief  arrived  to  detain  them. 

"  In  breathless  expectation  sat  the  wife  and  mother.  She  was  a 
woman  of  uncommon  energy  and  strength  of  character,  yet  her 
heart  died  within  her  as  she  folded  her  arms  around  her  helpless 
infants,  and  gazed  upon  the  march  of  her  husband  and  eldest  son 
to  almost  certain  destruction. 

"  As  the  troops  left  the  fort  the  band  struck  up  the  dead  march. 

*  The  spot  now  called  Bertrand,  then  known  by  the  name  of  Pare  aux 
Vachesj  from  its  having  been  a  pasture-ground  belonging  to  an  old  French 
fort  in  that  neighborhood. 


REBECCA    HEALP.  293 

On  they  came  in  military  array,  Capt.  Wells  taking  the  lead,  at  the 
head  of  his  little  band  of  Miamies — his  face  blackened,  in  token  of 
his  impending  fate,*  and  took  their  route  along  the  lake  shore. 
When  they  reached  the  point  where  commences  the  range  of  sand 
hill  intervening  between  the  prairie  and  the  beach,  the  escort  of 
Pottowattamies,  in  number  about  five  hundred,  kept  the  level  of  the 
prairie  instead  of  continuing  along  the  beach  with  the  Americans 
and  Miamies.  They  had  marched  perhaps  a  mile  and  a  half,  when 
Capt.  Wells,  who  was  somewhat  in  advance  with  his  Miamies,  came 
riding  furiously  back. 

"  '  They  are  about  to  attack  us,'  shouted  he,  *  form  instantly,  and 
charge  upon  them.' 

"  Scarcely  were  the  words  uttered  when  a  volley  was  showered 
from  among  the  sand-hills.  The  troops  were  hastily  brought  into 
line,  and  charged  up  the  bank.  One  man,  a  veteran  of  seventy 
years,  fell  as  they  ascended.  The  remainder  of  the  scene  is  best 
described  in  the  words  of  an  eye-witness  and  participator  in  the 
tragedy — Mrs.  Helm,  the  wife  of  Lieut.  Helm,  and  step-daughter  of 
Mr.  Kinzie. 

u  '  After  we  had  left  the  bank  and  gained  the  prairie,  the  action 
became  general.  The  Miamies  fled  at  the  outset.  Their  chief  rode 
uy  to  the  Pottowattamies,  and  said,  i  You  have  deceived  the  Amer- 
icans and  us ;  you  have  done  a  bad  action,  and  (brandishing  his 
tomahawk)  I  will  be  the  first  to  head  a  party  of  Americans,  and 
return  to  punish  your  treachery ;'  so  saying,  he  galloped  after  his 
companions,  who  were  now  scouring  across  the  prairies. 

" l  The  troops  behaved  most  gallantly.  They  were  but  a  handful, 
but  they  resolved  to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible.  Our 
horses  pranced  and  bounded,  and  could  hardly  be  restrained,  as  the 
balls  whistled  among  them.  I  drew  off  a  little,  and  gazed  upon  my 

*  Col.  Johnson  says  that  Capt.  Wells  seeing  all  was  lost,  and  not  wishing 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  wetted  powder  and  blacked  his  face  in 
token  of  defiance,  provoking  the  Indians,  in  the  heat  of  the  action,  by  taunts 
and  jeers,  to  despatch  him  at  once,  instead  of  attempting  to  take  him 
prisoner. 


294:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

husband  and  father,  who  were  yet  unharmed.  I  felt  that  my  hour 
was  come,  and  endeavored  to  forget  those  I  loved,  and  prepare 
myself  for  my  approaching  fate.  While  I  was  thus  engaged,  the 
surgeon  came  up.  He  was  badly  wounded.  His  horse  had  been 
shot  under  him,  and  he  had  received  a  ball  in  his  leg.  Every 
muscle  of  his  countenance  was  quivering  with  the  agony  of  terror. 
He  said  to  me,  '  Do  you  think  they  will  take  our  lives  ?  I  am  badly 
wounded,  but  I  think  not  mortally.  Perhaps  we  might  purchase 
our  lives  by  promising  them  a  large  reward.  Do  you  think  there  is 
any  chance  V 

"  '  Doctor,'  said  I,  *  do  not  let  us  waste  the  few  moments  that  yet 
remain  to  us,  in  such  vain  hopes.  Our  fate  is  inevitable.  In  a  few 
moments  we  must  appear  before  the  bar  of  God.  Let  us  endeavor 
to  make  what  preparation  is  yet  in  our  power.'  *  Oh  !  I  cannot  die !' 
exclaimed  he,  ' 1  am  not  fit  to  die — if  1  had  but  a  short  time  to  pre- 
pare— death  is  awful !'  I  pointed  to  Ensign  Ronan,  who,  though 
mortally  wounded,  and  nearly  down,  was  still  fighting  with  despera- 
tion upon  one  knee. 

" i  Look  at  that  man,'  said  I ;  t  he  at  least  dies  like  a  soldier !' 

"  *  Yes,'  replied  the  unfortunate  man,  with  a  convulsive  gasp,  ( but 
he  has  no  terrors  for  the  future — he  is  an  unbeliever  !' 

" c  At  this  moment,  a  young  Indian  raised  his  tomahawk  at  me. 
By  springing  aside,  I  avoided  the  blow  which  was  intended  for  my 
skull,  but  which  alighted  on  my  shoulder.  I  seized  him  round  the 
neck,  and  while  exerting  my  utmost  efforts  to  get  possession  of  his 
scalping-knife,  which  hung  in  a  scabbard  over  his  breast,  I  was 
dragged  from  his  grasp  by  an  older  Indian,  who  bore  me,  struggling 
and  resisting,  towards  the  lake.  Notwithstanding  the  rapidity  with 
which  I  was  hurried  along,  I  recognised,  as  I  passed  them,  the 
lifeless  remains  of  the  unfortunate  surgeon.  Some  murderous  torn- 

o 

ahawk  had  stretched  him  upon  the  very  spot  where  I  had  last  seen 
him. 

"  *  I  was  immediately  plunged  into  the  water,  and  held  there  with 
a  forcible  hand,  notwithstanding  my  resistance.  I  soon  perceived, 


REBECCA    HEALD.  295 

however,  that  the  object  of  my  captor  was  not  to  drown  me,  as  he 
held  me  firmly  in  such  a  position  as  to  place  my  head  above  the 
water.  This  reassured  me,  and  regarding  him  attentively,  I  soon 
recognised,  in  spite  of  the  paint  with  which  he  was  disguised,  The 
Black  Partridge. 

"  *  When  the  firing  had  somewhat  subsided,  my  preserver  bore 
me  from  the  water,  and  conducted  me  up  the  sand-banks.  It  was  a 
burning  August  morning,  ^md  walking  through  the  sand  in  my 
drenched  condition,  was  inexpressibly  painful  and  fatiguing.  I 
stooped  and  took  off  my  shoes,  to  free  them  from  the  sand  with 
which  they  were  nearly  filled,  when  a  squaw  seized  and  carried  them 
off,  and  I  was  obliged  to  proceed  without  them.  When  we  had 
gained  the  prairie,  I  was  met  by  my  father,  who  told  me  that  my 
husband  was  safe,  and  but  slightly  wounded.  They  led  me  gently 
back  toward  the  Chicago  river,  along  the  southern  bank  of  which 
was  the  Pottowattamie  encampment.  At  one  time,  I  was  placed 
upon  a  horse  without  a  saddle,  but  soon  finding  the  motion  insup- 
portable, I  sprang  off.  Supported  partly  by  my  kind  conductor, 
and  partly  by  another  Indian,  who  held  dangling  in  his  hand  the 
scalp  of  Capt.  Wells,  I  dragged  my  fainting  steps  to  one  of  the 
wigwams.' " 

At  the  commencement  of  the  action  Capt.  Wells  was  riding  by 
the  side  of  his  niece.  He  said  to  her  that  he  was  satisfied  there  was 
not  the  least  chance  for  his  life,  and  that  they  must  part  to  meet  no 
more  in  this  world,  then  started  away  to  charge  with  the  rest.  It  is 
said  that  Mrs.  Heald  saw  him  fall  from  his  horse,  struck  by  several 
rifle  balls.  Another  account  states  that  after  the  surrender,  while 
an  Indian  was  cruelly  butchering  some  white  children,  Capt.  Wells 
exclaimed,  "  then  I  will  kill  too,"  and  set  off  towards  the  Indian 
camp  near  the  fort,  where  their  squaws  and  children  had  been  left. 
Several  pursued  him,  firing  as  he  galloped  along.  He  laid  himself 
flat  on  the  neck  of  his  horse,  loading  and  firing  in  that  position,  but 
was  at  length  severely  wounded,  and  his  horse  killed.  Two  friendly 
Indians  who  met  him  endeavored  to  save  him  from  his  enemies,  and 
supported  him  after  disengaging  him  from  his  horse,  but  he  received 


296  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

bis  death-blow  from  one  of  his  pursuers,  who  stabbed  him  in  the 
back. 

The  charging  of  the  troops  drove  back  the  Indians  a  considerable 
distance  into  the  prairie,  where  the  Captain  ordered  his  men,  dimin- 
ished by  more  than  two  thirds  of  their  number,  to  halt,  and  after  a 
parley  with  the  savages,  agreed  to  surrender,  stipulating  that  their 
lives  should  be  spared,  and  that  they  should  be  delivered  at^one  of 
the  British  posts,  unless  ransomed  by  traders  in  the  Indian  country. 
It  appeared  afterwards  that  the  savages  did  not  consider  the  wounded 
prisoners  as  included  in  the  stipulation. 

The  lady  whose  narrative  has  been  quoted,  says,  after  she  was 
taken  to  the  wigwam,  "  the  wife  of  a  chief  from  the  Illinois  river  was 
standing  near,  and  seeing  my  exhausted  condition,  she  seized  a  kettle, 
dipped  up  some  water  from  a  little  stream  that  flowed  near,  threw 
into  it  some  maple  sugar,  and  stirring  it  up  with  her  hand,  gave  it 
to  me  to  drink.  This  act  of  kindness,  in  the  midst  of  so  many  atro- 
cities, touched  me  most  sensibly,  but  my  attention  was  soon  diverted 
to  other  objects.  An  old  squaw,  infuriated  by  the  loss  of  friends, 
or  excited  by  the  sanguinary  scenes  around  her,  seemed  possessed 
by  a  demoniac  ferocity.  She  seized  a  stable-fork,  and  assaulted  ono 
miserable  victim,  who  lay  groaning  and  writhing  in  the  agony  of  his 
wounds,  aggravated  by  the  scorching  beams  of  the  sun.  With  a 
delicacy  of  feeling  scarcely  to  have  been  expected  under  such  circum- 
stances, the  chief  stretched  a  mat  across  two  poles,  between  me  and 
this  dreadful  scene.  I  was  thus  spared,  in  some  degree,  a  view  of 
its  horrors,  although  I  could  not  entirely  close  my  ears  to  the  cries 
of  the  sufferer.  The  following  night  five  more  of  the  wounded 
prisoners  were  tomahawked. 

"  The  heroic  resolution  of  one  of  the  soldiers'  wives  deserves  to  be 
recorded.  She  liad  from  the  first  expressed  a  determination  never 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  savages,  believing  that  their  prisoners 
were  always  subjected  to  tortures  worse  than  death.  When,  there- 
fore, a  party  came  upon  her,  to  make  her  prisoner,  she  fought  with 
desperation,  refusing  to  surrender,  although  assured  of  safe  treatment ; 


REBECCA    HEALD.  297 

and  literally  suffered  herself  to  be  cut  to  pieces,  rather  than  become 
their  captive.  / 

"  The  horse  Mrs.  Heald  rode  was  a  fine,  spirited  animal,  and  the 
Indians  were  desirous  to  possess  themselves  of  it  unwounded.  They 
therefore  aimed  their  shots  so  as  to  disable  the  rider,  without  injur- 
ing her  steed.  This  was  at  length  accomplished,  and  her  captor  was 
in  the  act  of  disengaging  her  hat  from,  her  head,  in  order  to  scalp 
her,  when  young  Chandonnai,  a  half-breed  from  St.  Joseph's,  ran 
up  and  offered  for  her  ransom  a  mule  he  had  just  taken,  adding  the 
promise  of  ten  bottles  of  whiskey,  'so  soon  as  he  should  reach  his  vil- 
lage. The  latter  was  a  strong  temptation.  4  But,'  said  the  Indian, 
4  she  is  badly  wounded — she  will  die — will  you  give  me  the  whiskey 
at  all  events  ? '  Chandonnai  promised  that  he  would,  and  the  bar- 
gain was  concluded.  Mrs.  Heald  was  placed  in  the  boat  with  Mrs. 
Kinzie  and  her  children,  covered  with  a  buffalo  robe,  and  enjoined 
silence  as  she  valued  her  life.  In  this  situation  the  heroic  woman 
remained,  without  uttering  a  sound  that  could  betray  her  to  the 
savages,  who  were  continually  coming  to  the  boat  in  search  of 
prisoners,  but  who  always  retired  peaceably  when  told  that  it  con- 
tained only  the  family  of  Shaw-ne-au-kee.  When  the  boat  was  at 
length  permitted  to  return  to  the  mansion  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  and  Mrs. 
Heald  was  removed  to  the  house  for  the  purpose  of  dressing  her 
wounds,  Mr.  Kinzie  applied  to  an  old  chief  who  stood  by,  and  who, 
like  most  of  his  tribe,  possessed  some  skill  in  surgery,  to  extract  a 
ball  from  the  arm  of  the  sufferer.  i  No,  father,'  replied  he,  '  I  cannot 
do  it — it  makes  me  sick  here  ! '  placing  his  hand  upon  his  heart. 

"  From  the  Pottowattamie  encampment,  the  family  of  Mr.  Kinzie 
were  conveyed  across  the  river  to  their  own  mansion.  There  they 
were  closely  guarded  by  their  Indian  friends,  whose  intention  it  was 
to  carry  them  to  Detroit  for  security.  The  rest  of  the  prisoners 
remained  at  the  wigwams  of  their  captors.  The  following  morning, 
the  work  of  plunder  being  completed,  the  Indians  set  fire  to  the 
fort.  A  very  equitable  distribution  of  the  finery  appeared  to  have 
been  made,  and  shawls,  ribbons,  and  feathers,  were  seen  fluttering 
about  in  all  directions.  The  ludicrous  appearance  of  one  young 
13* 


298  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

fellow,  who  had  arrayed  himself  in  a  muslin  gown,  and  the  bonnet 
of  the  commanding  officer's  lady,  would  under  other  circumstances 
have  afforded  matter  of  amusement. 

"  Black  Partridge  and  Wau-ban-see,  with  three  others  of  the 
tribe,  having  established  themselves  in  the  porch  of  the  building  as 
sentinels,  to  protect  the  family  of  Mr.  Kinzie  from  any  evil,  all 
remained  tranquil  for  a  short  space  after  the  conflagration.  Very 
soon,  however,  a  party  of  Indians  from  the  Wabash  made  their 
appearance.  These  were  the  most  hostile  and  implacable  of  all  the 
bands  of  the  Pottowattamies.  Being  more  remote,  they  had  shared 
less  than  some  of  their  brethren  in  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Kinzie  and 
his  family,  and  consequently  their  sentiments  of  regard  for  them 
were  less  powerful.  Runners  had  been  sent  to  the  villages,  to 
apprise  them  of  the  intended  evacuation  of  the  post,  as  well  as  the 
plan  of  the  Indians  assembled,  to  attack  the  troops.  Thirsting  to 
participate  in  such  a  scene,  they  hurried  on,  and  great  was  their 
mortification,  on  arriving  at  the  river  Aux  Plaines,  to  meet  with  a 
party  of  their  friends,  having  their  chief  badly  wounded,  and  to 
learn  that  the  battle  was  over,  the  spoils  divided,  and  the  scalps  all 
taken.  / 

"  On  arriving  at  Chicago,  they  blackened  their  faces,  and  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  residence  of  Mr.  Kinzie.  From  his  station  on 
the  piazza,  Black  Partridge  had  watched  their  approach,  and  his 
fears  were  particularly  awakened  for  the  safety  of  Mrs.  Helm,  who 
had  recently  come  to  the  post,  and  was  personally  unknown  to  the 
more  remote  Indians.  By  his  advice,  she  assumed  the  ordinary 
dress  of  a  Frenchwoman  of  the  country,  a  short  gown  and  petticoat, 
with  a  blue  cotton  handkerchief  wrapped  around  her  head ;  and  in 
this  disguise  she  was  conducted  ly  Black  Partridge  to  the  house  of 
Ouilmette,  a  Frenchman  with  a  half-breed  wife,  who  formed  a  part 
of  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  and  whose  dwelling  was  close  at 
hand.  It  so  happened  that  the  Indians  came  first  to  this  house  in 
their  search  for  prisoners.  As  they  approached,  the  inmates,  fearful 
that  the  fair  complexion  and  general  appearance  of  Mi's.  Helm 
might  betray  her  for  an  American,  raised  the  large  feather  bed  and 


REBECCA    HEALD.  299 

placed  her  under  the  edge  of  it,  upon  the  bedstead,  with  her  face  to 
the  wall.  Mrs.  Bisson,  the  sister  of  Ouilmette's  wife,  then  seated 
herself  with  her  sewing  upon  the  front  of  the  bed.  It  was  a  hot  day 
in  August,  and  the  feverish  excitement  of  fear  and  agitation, 
together  with  her  position,  which  was  nearly  suffocating,  were  so 
painful,  that  Mrs.  Helm  at  length  entreated  to  be  released  and  given 
up  to  the  Indians.  '  I  can  but  die,'  said  she,  '  let  them  put  an  end 
to  my  miseries  at  once.'  Mrs.  Bisson  replied,  '  Your  death  would 
be  the  signal  for  the  destruction  of  us  all,  for  Black  Partridge  is 
resolved,  if  one  drop  of  the  blood  of  your  family  is  spilled,  to  take 
the  lives  of  all  concerned  in  it,  even  his  nearest  friends,  and  if  once 
the  work  of  murder  commences,  there  will  be  no  end  of  it,  so  long 
as  there  remains  one  white  person  or  half-breed  in  the  country.' 
This  expostulation  nerved  Mrs.  Helm  with  fresh  resolution.  The 
Indians  entered,  and  she  could  occasionally  see  them  from  her  hid- 
ing-place, gliding  about  and  inspecting  every  part  of  the  room, 
though  without  making  any  ostensible  search,  until,  apparently 
satisfied  that  there  was  no  one  concealed,  they  left  the  house.  All 
this  time,  Mrs.  Bisson  kept  her  seat  upon  the  side  of  the  bed,  calmly 
assorting  and  arranging  the  patchwork  of  the  quilt  on  which  she 
was  engaged,  although  she  knew  not  but  that  the  next  moment  she 
might  receive  a  tomahawk  in  her  brain.  Her  self-command  un- 
questionably saved  the  lives  of  all  present. 

"  From  Ouilmette's  the  savages  proceeded  to  the  dwelling  of  Mr. 
Kinzie.  They  entered  the  parlor,  in  which  were  assembled  tho 
family,  with  their  faithful  protectors,  and  seated  themselves  upon  tho 
floor  in  profound  silence.  Black  Partridge  perceived,  from  their 
moody  and  revengeful  looks,  what  was  passing  in  their  minds,  but 
dared  not  remonstrate  with  them.  He  only  observed  in  a  low  tone 
1o  Wau-ban-see,  *  We  have  endeavored  to  save  our  friends,  but  it 
is  in  vain — nothing  will  save  them  now.'  At  this  moment  a  friendly 
whoop  was  heard  from  a  party  of  new  comers,  on  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  river.  Black  Partridge  sprang  to  meet  their  leader,  as  the 
canoes  in  which  they  had  hastily  embarked  touched  the  bank,  and 
bade  him  make  all  speed  to  the  house.  Billy  Caklwell,  for  it  was 


300  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

lie,  entered  the  parlor  with  a  calm  step,  and  without  a  trace  of  agi- 
tation in  his  manner.  He  deliberately-  took  off  his  accoutrements, 
and  placed  them  with  his  rifle  behind  the  door ;  then  saluted  the 
hostile  savages. 

"  *  How  now,  my  friends  !  A  good  day  to  you.  I  was  told 
there  were  enemies  here,  but  I  am  glad  to  find  only  friends.  Why 
have  you  blackened  your  faces  ?  Is  it  that  you  are  mourning  for 
the  friends  you  have  lost  in  the  battle  ?  (purposely  misunderstand- 
ing this  token  of  evil  designs)  or  is  it  that  you  are  fasting  ? 
If  so,  ask  our  friend  here,  and  he  will  give  you  to  eat.  He  is  the 
Indians'  friend,  and  never  yet  refused  them  what  they  had  need  of.' 

"  Thus  taken  by  surprise,  the  savages  were  ashamed  to  acknow- 
ledge their  bloody  purpose ;  they  therefore  said  modestly,  that  they 
came  to  beg  of  their  friend  some  white  cotton,  in  which  to  wrap 
their  dead  before  interring  them.  This  was  given  them,  together 
with  some  other  presents,  and  they  took  their  departure  from  the 
premises. 

"  Little  remains  to  be  told.  On  the  third  day  after  the  battle,  the 
family  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  with  the  clerks  of  the  establishment,  were 
put  in  a  boat,  under  the  care  of  Francois,  a  half-breed  interpreter, 
and  conveyed  to  St.  Joseph's,  where  they  remained  until  the  follow- 
ing November.  They  were  then  carried  to  Detroit,  under  %the 
escort  of  Chandonnai  and  a  trusty  Indian  friend,  and  together  with 
their  negro  servants,  delivered  up  as  prisoners  of  war  to  the  British 
commanding  officer.  It  had  been  a  stipulation  at  the  surrender  of 
Detroit  by  Gen.  Hull,  that  the  American  inhabitants  should  retain 
the  liberty  of  remaining  undisturbed  in  their  own  dwellings,  and 
accordingly  this  family  was  permitted  a  quiet  residence  among  their 
friends  at  that  place.  Mr.  Kinzie  was  not  allowed  to  leave  St. 
Joseph's  with  his  family,  his  Indian  friends  insisting  upon  his  re- 
maining to  endeavor  to  secure  some  remnant  of  his  scattered  pro- 
perty, but  anxiety  for  his  family  induced  him  to  follow  them  in 
January  to  Detroit,  where  he  was  received  as  a  prisoner,  and 
paroled  by  Gen.  Proctor. 

"  Of  the  other  prisoners,  Capt.  and  Mrs.   Heald  had  been  sent 


REBECCA    HEALD.  301 

across  the  Lake  to  St.  Joseph's  the  day  after  the  battle.  Capt. 
fieald  had  received  two  wounds,  and  Mrs.  Heald  seven,  the  ball  of 
one  of  which  was  cut  out  of  her  arm  with  a  pen-knife  by  Mr. 
Kinzie,  after  the  engagement. 

"  Capt.  Heald  was  taken  prisoner  by  an  Indian  from  the  Kankakee, 
who  had  a  strong  personal  regard  for  him,  and  who,  when  he  saw 
the  wounded  and  enfeebled  state  of  Mrs.  Heald,  released  his  prisoner, 
that  he  might  accompany  his  wife  to  St.  Joseph's.  To  the  latter 
place  they  were  accordingly  carried  by  Chandonnai  and  his  party. 
In  the  meantime,  the  Indian  who  had  so  nobly  released  his  captive, 
returned  to  his  village  on  the  Kankakee,  where  he  had  the  mortifi- 
cation of  finding .  that  his  conduct  had  excited  great  dissatisfaction 
among  his  band.  So  great  was  the  displeasure  manifested  that  he 
resolved  to  make  a  journey  to  St.  Joseph's  and  reclaim  his  prisoner. 
News  of  his  intention  being  brought  to  the  chiefs  under  whose  care 
the  prisoners  were,  they  held  a  private  council  with  Chandonnai  and 
the  principal  men  of  the  village,  the  result  of  which  was  a  deter- 
mination to  send  Capt.  and  Mrs.  Heald  to  the  island  of  Mackinaw, 
and  deliver  them  up  to  the  British.  They  were  accordingly  put  in 
a  bark  canoe  and  paddled  by  the  chief  of  the  Pottowattamies,  Rob- 
inson, and  his  wife,  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles  along  the 
coast  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war  to  the 
commanding  officer  at  Mackinaw. 

"  Lieut.  Helm,  who  was  likewise  wounded,  was  carried  by  some 
friendly  Indians  to  their  village,  on  the  Au  Sable  and  thence  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  was  liberated  by  the  intervention  of  Thomas  For- 
syth,  a  trader  among  them.  Mrs.  Helm  accompanied  her  father's 
family  to  Detroit.  In  the  engagement  she  received  a  slight  wound 
on  the  ancle,  and  had  her  horse  shot  under  her. 

"  The  soldiers,  with  their  wives  and  children,  were  dispersed  among 
the  different  villages  of  the  Pottowattamies,  upon  the  Illinois,  Wa- 
bash,  Rock  River,  and  Milwaukie,  until  the  following  spring,  when 
they  were  for  the  most  part  carried  to  Detroit,  and  ransomed.  Some, 
however,  were  detained  in  captivity  another  year,  during  wnich 


302  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

period  they  experienced  more  kindness  than  was  to  have  been  ex- 
pected from  an  enemy  in  most  cases  so  merciless." 

Gen.  Hunt  adds,  that  some  months  after  the  massacre  at  Chicago, 
he  met  Capt.  and  Mrs.  Heald,  walking  in  the  street  in  Detroit. 
They  had  just  come  from  Mackinaw  in  a  vessel,  and  were  much 
pleased  to  see  their  old  friend.  Mrs.  Heald  had  recovered  from  her 
wounds,  and  appeared  to  be  as  well  as  she  had  ever  been.  It  is 
probable  that,  after  the  termination  of  the  war,  her  life  was  one  of 
quiet  usefulness,  like  that  of  her  sister  pioneers ;  the  occurrences  in 
which  she  had  borne  so  prominent  a  part  serving  to  relate  as  truth 
more  strange  than  fiction,  to  those  whose  fortunes  had  led  them  into 
less  stirring  scenes. 

MRS.  HELM  was  the  daughter  of  Col.  McKillip,  a  British  officer 
attached  to  one  of  the  companies  who  in  1794  were  engaged  in  sus- 
taining the  Indian  tribes  in  Northern  Ohio  against  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  He  lost  his  life  at  the  fort  at  the  Miami 
Kapids,  now  Perrysburg.  He  had  gone  out  at  night  to  reconnoitre, 
and  returning  in  a  stealthy  manner,  was  mistaken  for  an  enemy, 
fired  upon,  and  mortally  wounded  by  his  own  sentinel.  His  widow 
afterwards  became  the  wife  of  John  Kinzie,  with  whom,  in  1803, 
she  removed  to  Chicago,  then  a  mere  trading  post  among  the 
Pottowattamies. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen,  the  daughter  was  married  to  Lieut.  Lina 
J.  Helm,  of  Kentucky.  Her  death  took  place  at  Watersville,  in 
Michigan,  in  1844,  and  was  very  sudden.  She  had  just  risen  from 
the  tea-table — one  of  the  company  having  read  to  her  a  newspaper 
paragraph  relating  to  Henry  Clay ;  and  she  said,  "  I  hope  I  shall 
live  to  see  that  man  President."  Scarcely  were  the  words  uttered, 
than  she  fell  backwards  into  the  arms  of  an  attendant  and  almost 
instantly  expired.  Her  interest  in  the  great  statesman  is  an  evidence 
of  the  patriotic  feeling  for  which  she  was  always  remarkable.  She 
was  generous,  high-minded,  and  disinterested;  possessing  a  calm 
strength  of  nature,  and  was  energetic  and  indefatigable  in  action.  Her 
piety  was  pure  and  ardent,  yet  wholly  untinctured  with  fanaticism ; 
the  faith  and  love  by  which  the  true  Christian  lifts  his  heart  to  God, 


MES.    HELM.  303 

and  with  a  sincerity  and  devotion  rarely  equalled,  did  she  obey  the 
precept,  "  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

Our  wonder  may  well  be  excited  at  the  heroism  and  the  sufferings 
borne  with  such  sturdy  fortitude,  of  the  pioneer  women  whose  lot 
was  cast  in  the  midst  of  the  troubles  upon  the  frontier.  Yet  their 
attachment  to  this  wild,  unsettled  life  was  still  more  remarkable ; 
for  as  the  country  became  settled,  they  would  encourage  their  hus- 
bands or  sons  to  "sell  out,"  and  remove  still  further  into  the 
wilderness. 

During  the  time  of  the  possession  of  Detroit  by  the  British,  after 
the  surrender  of  Gen.  Hull,  the  frontier  settlement  suffered  much 
from  Indian  depredation.  The  capture  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Snow, 
taken  by.  the  Ottawa  Indians  from  their  home  on  Cole  Creek, 
in  Huron  County,  may  illustrate  the  experience  of  many  unfor- 
tunates whose  names  tradition  has  not  preserved.  Mr.  Snow 
chanced  to  be  absent,  when  his  house  was  surrounded  by  a  hostile 
party,  and  his  wife  and  nine  children  were  made  prisoners.  The  sa- 
vages immediately  started  on  their  return,  and  had  gone  about  five 
miles,  travelling  on  foot,  when  it  became  evident  that  Mrs.  Snow, 
whose  health  was  delicate,  could  not  drag  herself  much  further.  A 
brief  council  was  held  among  the  savages,  and  it  was  decided  that 
she  must  be  killed.  Two  young  men  were  appointed  to  put  the 
cruel  sentence  in  execution,  while  the  rest  of  the  party  moved  for- 
ward ;  the  victim  being  ordered  to  keep  her  seat  upon  a  log.  Here 
her  lifeless  body  was  found  by  her  husband  and  the  men  in  pursuit. 
It  is  a  somewhat  curious  circumstance,  that  one  of  the  Indians  who 
killed  the  unfortunate  woman,  afterwards  expressed  his  remorse  for 
the  deed,  and  said  he  knew  the  Great  Spirit  was  angry  with  him, 
for  that  the  ground  had  trembled  when  she  screamed,  and  his  right 
arm  had  become  completely  withered  by  a  rheumatic  affection. 
His  death  might  have  been  deemed  also  a  judgment  for  the  crime.; 
in  a  fit  of  intoxication  he  fell  into  the  fire  and  burned  himself  so 
severely  that  he  expired  in  a  short  time. 

"  On  a  beautiful  Sunday  morning  in  Detroit,"  continues  my  in- 
formant, "  I  heard  the  scalp  whoop  of  a  war  party  coming  up  the 


304  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

river.  When  they  came  near,  I  discovered  that  they  were  carrying 
a  woman's  scalp  upon  a  pole,  and  that  they  had  with  them, 
as  prisoners,  a  family  of  nine  children,  from  three  years  old  up  to 
\wo  girls  full  grown.  These  little  captives  had  nothing  on  their 
heads,  and  their  clothes  were  torn  into  shreds  by  the  brushwood  and 
the  bushes  in  the  way  by  which  they  had  come.  I  went  to  meet 
them,  brought  them  into  my  house,  gave  them  and  their  Indian 
captors  a  meal,  with  a  few  loaves  of  bread  for  further  use,  and  told 
the  children  not  to  be  frightened  or  uneasy,  for  that  my  brother 
would  buy  them  from  the  Indians  when  he  should  return  from 
Canada,  whither  he  had  gone  to  spend  the  Sabbath  with  his  father- 
in-law.  The  next  day  the  prisoners  came  again,  accompanied  by 
about  five  hundred  Indians.  My  brother  paid  five  hundred  dollars 
for  their  ransom,  and  sent  them  home.  The  girls  informed  me  that 
they  had  been  treated  by  the  Indians  with  kindness  and  respect. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  recorded,  to  the  praise  of  the  Indian  character, 
and  in  extenuation  of  their  cruelties,  that  an  instance  has  not  been 
known  of  improper  conduct  towards  a  captive  white  woman.  Their 
apology  for  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Snow  was,  that  they  feared  her 
release  might  lead  to  their  discoveiy  by  the  whites  in  pursuit." 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck  of  Illinois  mentions  the  name  of  Catharine 
Lemen,  as  a  pioneer  who  came  to  that  region  as  early  as  178G,  with 
her  husband  and  two  children.  The  family  were  exposed  to  Indian 
depredations  during  the  whole  period  of  the  border  troubles ;  and 
many  instances  are  remembered  in  which  she  exhibited  a  heroic  and 
Christian  spirit.  She  had  ten  children,  four  of  whom  became 
ministers  of  the  gospel.  Mrs.  Edwards,  the  wife  of  Governor 
Edwards,  is  also  mentioned  as  a  matron  distinguished  for  lofty  and 
heroic  traits  of  character.  She  sustained  her  husband  through  his 
public  life,  having  the  entire  management  of  his  large  estate  and  its 
settlement  after  his  death.  * 


XVIIL 

ABIGAIL    SPELLING. 

THOMAS  HUNT,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  the  present  memoir 
was  a  Revolutionary  officer,  and  a  native  of  Watertown,  Massachu- 
setts. He  entered  the  American  army  as  a  volunteer,  and  was  soon? 
commissioned  in  the  regular  service  ;  was  in  the  expedition  against 
Ticonderoga  commanded  by  Ethan  Allen,  and  one  of  the  party  who 
made  themselves  masters  of  Crown  Point.  He  was  with  Gen. 
Wajme  at  Stoney  Point,  among  the  volunteers  of  the  "  forlorn 
hope,"  and  was  there  wounded  in  the  ankle.  In  1794,  he  joined 
the  army  under  Wayne  against  the  Indians,  and  served  out  the 
campaign,  returning  then  to  his  family  residence  at  Watertown. 
In  1798,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  of 
the  first  regiment  of  infantry,  and  ordered  to  Fort  Wayne,  where 
he  remained  until  the  death  of  Col.  Hamtramack  at  Detroit,  when  he 
became  Colonel,  and  took  the  command  of  that  post,  remained 
there  some  time,  and  afterwards  went  to  Mackinaw. 

Our  heroine  was  but  six  weeks  old  when  the  family  left  Water- 
town,  and  was  carried  on  a  pillow  in  such  a  vehicle  as  was  then 
used  for  stages,  over  very  rough  roads,  for  many  miles  only  ren- 
dered passable  by  logs  placed  side  by  side,  forming  what  are 
termed  corduroy  roads.  The  severity  of  the  exercise,  as  may  be 
remembered  by  those  who  have  travelled  over  such  roads  in  a  new 


306  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

country,  always  caused  an  outcry  on  approaching  them,  from  man, 
woman,  and  child,  with  petitions  to  get  out  and  walk  ;  frequently 
at  the  risk  of  being  bitten  by  rattlesnakes  which  were  often  conceal- 
ed between  the  logs.  When  they  arrived  at  Mackinaw,  they 
went  to  the  Government  House,  which  they  were  to  occupy.  The 
English  commander  had  left  it  with  the  furniture,  even  the  window 
curtains  suspended  from  the  windows,  and  there  was  an  air  of  com- 
fort in  and  about  the  house.  The  Fort  stood  on  the  height,  the 
town  was  small,  the  streets  were  very  narrow,  the  houses  built  in 
the  old  French  style,  and  the  town  was  enclosed  with  pickets,  with 
a  gate  at  each  end. 

One  of  the  little  girl's  earliest  recollections  was  visiting  in  the 
family  of  a  Scotch  gentleman,  Dr.  Mitchell,  who  had  married  an 
Indian  wife.  She  dressed  herself  in  silks  and  satins  when  at  home, 
but  resumed  her  native  dress  when  among  the  Chippewas,  her  own 
people.  She  would  sometimes  be  absent  many  months,  purchasing 
furs  to  send  to  Montreal,  for  her  agent  there  to  sell ;  and  in  this  way 
she  amassed  a  large  fortune  for  her  husband.  At  one  time,  after 
she  had  been  absent  more  than  six  months,  it  was  reported  that  she 
had  been  killed  by  some  rival  trader.  She  heard  on  her  way 
home  that  such  news  had  been  received,  and  when  her  flotilla  ap- 
peared in  sight,  threw  herself  on  the  bottom  of  her  birch  canoe. 
Her  husband,  with  spy-glass  in  hand,  was  on  the  beach,  eagerly 
looking  to  see  if  indeed  his  wife  was  not  there,  and  was  about  turn- 
ing away  with  a  heavy  heart,  when  she  leaped  from  her  bark  ex- 
claiming, "  Not  dead  yet !"  Her  two  daughters  were  sent  to  Mon- 
treal to  be  educated,  and  returned  home  highly  accomplished  and 
very  beautiful  women.  One  of  them  afterwards  married  an  officer. 
,  Abigail  was  about  seven  years  old  when  her  parents  left  Mackinaw 
tc  return  to  Detroit,  on  their  way  to  St.  Louis.  The  troops 
had  left  Detroit  but  a  short  time  when  the  town  was  burned  to  ashes, 
in  1805.  The  little  party  reached  Fort  Wayne,  where  they  rested 
for  a  week,  at  which  time  Col.  Hunt's  eldest  daughter,  not  quite 
fifteen,  was  married  to  the  surgeon  of  the  post,  Dr.  Edwards.  She 
was  left  behind  when  the  family  resumed  their  journey,  and  they 


ABIGAIL   SNELLING.  307 

proceeded  in  a  flat-bottomed  boat,  called  an  "ark,"  which  could 
only  be  used  in  descending  with  the  current,  Col.  Hunt  had  one 
of  these  boats  partitioned  off  into  rooms,  making  a  parlor,  bed- 
rooms, and  kitchen ;  bedsteads  were  put  up,  and  each  apartment 
arranged  in  the  same  order  as  in  a  house.  This  was  a  slow  mode 
of  travelling,  but  extremely  comfortable,  and  little  apprehension  was 
felt  at  that  time  of  the  Indians,  although  they  frequently  surrounded 
the  boat,  begging  for  bread  and  some  of  their  "  father's  milk" 
(whiskey).  At  Vincennes,  the  voyagers  were  hospitably  received  at 
the  house  of  Gen.  W.  H.  Harrison,  but  their  stay  was  short,  and 
they  proceeded  to  St.  Louis.  Gen.  Wilkinson  was  there  at  that 
time,  and  ordered  Col.  Hunt  to  take  command  of  the  garrison-  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  eighteen  miles  above  St.  Louis.  This 
was  about  the  time  of  Burr's  conspiracy,  and  a  court  martial  was 
immediately  held  to  try  a  Major  Bruffj  who  was  suspected  of  being 
one  of  his  adherents.  He  was  acquitted.  Then  arrived  at  the  gar- 
rison Lewis  and  Clark,  from  their  exploring  expedition ;  and  the 
peculiar  appearance  of  their  dress,  made  of  deerskins,  the  outer 
garment  fringed  and  worked  with  porcupine  quills,  something  be- 
tween a  military  undress  frock  coat  and  Indian  shirt,  with  their 
leggins  and  moccasins,  three-cornered  cocked  hats  and  long  beards, 
caused  no  small  wonder  among  the  younger  members  of  the  family. 
Gen.  Pike  was  at  this  time  a  captain  in  Col.  Hunt's  regiment, 
and  was  selected  by  the  government  to  explore  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi. He  left  his  wife  and  little  daughter  under  the  protection  of 
Col.  Hunt,  on  his  departure  in  the  following  year.  His  absence  was 
prolonged  nearly  two  years,  during  which  time  his  friend  was  re- 
moved from  this  world.  Col.  Hunt  died  after  a  protracted  illness, 
in  1809.  The  dispensation  was  a  heart-breaking  one  to  the  devoted 
wife.  She  did  not,  could  not,  shed  a  tear,  but  would  sigh  continu- 
ally, and  sometimes  exclaim,  "  Oh !  that  I  could  weep — what  a 
relief  it  would  be  !"  Ere  long  she  was  unable  to  swallow  solid 
food,  and  even  liquids  without  difficulty.  Some  friends  thought 
visiting  the  grave  would  have  the  effect  of  making  her  weep,  but  it 
threw  her  into  spasms,  after  which  no  further  effort  was  made,  and 


308  PIOXEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

she  gradually  sank,  until  she  died  in  six  months  after  the  death  of 
her  husband. 

Mrs.  Hunt's  eldest  son,  twenty-two  years  of  age,  was  then  just, 
established  in  business  as  a  merchant  in  Detroit.  When  he  heard 
of  his  father's  death,  he  prepared  immediately  to  meet  the  family 
at  St.  Louis,  and  on  the  journey  tidings  reached  him  that  his 
mother  also  was  no  more.  This  double  bereavement,  with  the 
responsibility  of  a  large  family  depending  upon  his  care,  was  too 
heavy  a  burden  for  his  anxious  mind.  He  became  ill  of  a  fever, 
which  reduced  him  so  much,  that  on  arriving  at  St.  Louis  he  could 
scarcely  reach  the  house  of  a  friend  where  the  family  were  awaiting 
his  arrival.  For  the  first  time  in  her  life,  his  little  sister  felt  a 
dreary  sense  of  desolation — a  knowledge  that  she  was  homeless, 
and  an  orphan.  No  tender  mother  now  called  her  child  to  her  in 
the  evening  to  say  her  prayers  ;  no  longer  were  the  children  assem- 
bled together  on  the  Sabbath  afternoon  to  be  instructed  from  the 
Bible  and  catechism.  This  feeling  of  loneliness  added  to  the  poig- 
nancy of  grief  for  her  departed  parents  ;  the  first  of  the  sorrows  by 
which  that  young,  gentle,  loving  heart  was  to  be  tried — the  first 
experience  of  the  universal  lot  of  humanity.  The  young  mourner 
was  led,  in  that  time  of  suffering,  to  turn  to  the  Bible  for  consolation, 
and  was  consoled  in  the  promise  there  found,  "  I  will  be  a  father  to 
the  fatherless." 

As  soon  as  her  brother  had  recovered  his  strength,  the  family 
commenced  their  journey,  their  destination  being  Waltham,  Massa- 
chusetts, where  their  maternal  grandfather,  Mr.  Samuel  Wellington, 
resided.  When  they  reached  Vincennes,  they  were  again  received 
into  the  family  of  Gen.  Harrison,  and  stayed  two  weeks  to  recruit. 
The  mode  of  conveyance  at  that  time  was  in  an  open  barge,  with 
an  awning  stretched  over  it.  The  crew  were  soldiers  for  a  part  of 
the  way,  afterwards  Frenchmen,  "  voyageurs,"  as  they  were  called. 
Tents  were  pitched  every  night,  and  the  evening  was  spent  in  pre- 
paring food  for  the  following  day.  The  party  was  often  supplied 
with  game  by  the  Indians,  who  frequently  spread  their  blankets 
around  their  fires  to  sleep  for  the  night ;  yet  though  the  savages 


ABIGAIL  SNELLING.  309 

were  friendly,  the  children  could  not  divest  themselves  of  fear 
which  often  drove  away  sleep  at  night,  to  be  made  up  by  sleeping 
all  the  next  day  in  the  boat.  The  next  stopping  place  was  Fort 
Wayne,  where  the  eldest  sister,  Mrs.  Edwards,  had  been  left  six 
years  before.  The  meeting  was  an  affecting  one.  The  travellers 
did  not  remain  long,  as  Mr.  Hunt's  business  demanded  his  presence 
in  Detroit.  One  of  the  brothers,  John  E.  Hunt,  was  left  with  Dr. 
Edwards,  and  the  youngest  but  one  of  the  sisters  (now  married  to 
Mr.  Wendell,  of  Detroit) ;  and  as  soon  as  Mr.  Hunt  had  arranged 
his  business,  the  rest  resumed  their  journey,  another  brother, 
Thomas,  being  left  in  Detroit  in  his  brother's  store  as  clerk.  After- 
wards, in  1812,  he  was  commissioned  in  the  army  as  captain. 

After  a  tedious  journey  of  months,  the  travellers  arrived  at 
their  grand-father's  in  Waltham.  Abby  was  sent  to  a  boarding 
school  in  Salem,  under  the  charge  of  Mrs.  Cranch,  and  there 
remained  until  some  time  in  1811.  Col.  Henry  J.  Hunt  of  Detroit, 
who  was  then  married  to  Miss  Ann  Mackintosh  of  Moy,  Canada, 
then  came,  in  company  with  his  wife,  to  take  his  sister,  and  she  re- 
turned with  them  to  Detroit. 

The  following  year,  war  was  declared  with  Great  Britain.  The 
first  intimation  had  of  it  in  Detroit  was  seeing  the  ferryboat  hauled 
up,  and  the  ferryman  taken  prisoner  and  sent  to  Maiden. 
This  caused  a  dreadful  sensation  in  the  town,  especially  in  the  house 
of  Col.  Hunt,  his  wife  being  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  communica- 
tion with  her  father's  family,  and  plunged  into  deep  distress  on  that 
account.  There  were  many  other  families  in  the  same  situation ; 
and  brother  seemed  arrayed  against  each  other.  The  only  Protest- 
ant church  near  enough  to  be  attended  every  Sunday,  was  at  Sand- 
wich, nearly  opposite  Detroit,  and  the  Hunt  family  had  always 
crossed  the  river  on  Saturday,  spending  Sunday  at  Mr.  Mackintosh's 
in  order  to  attend  the  Episcopal  service.  It  was  the  first  Protestant 
church  Miss  Hunt  had  ever  attended,  and  she  was  there  baptised  and 
received  the  communion.  The  privation  of  such  privileges  was 
deeply  felt  by  her. 

Before  long,  intelligence  was  brought  of  the  approach  and  the 


310  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE  WEST. 

arrival  of  Gen.  Hull's  army  at  the  Maurnee  on  the  30th  of  June. 
The  troops  had  collected  at  Dayton  to  the  number  of  about  two 
thousand  drafted  men  and  volunteers  from  Ohio ;  the  regular  force 
comprising  about  three  hundred  soldiers.  They  had  cut  their  way 
through  the  wilderness  and  endured  many  hardships.  The  4th 
regiment,  commanded  by  Col.  James  Miller,  had  acquired  a  good 
reputation  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  under  Gen.  Harrison  on  the 
6th  of  November,  1811.  None  of  the  officers  had  distinguished 
themselves  more  than  Capt.  Snelling.  He  was  one  of  the  gallant 
band  that  made  a  successful  charge,  and  drove  the  enemy  into  the 
swamp,  putting  an  end  to  the  conflict.  An  incident  of  this  battle 
gave  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  his  benevolence.  At  dawn  of  day 
a  lad  fourteen  years  old,  was  seen  bending  over  the  lifeless  body 
of  his  father,  which  lay  weltering  in  blood,  and  proved  to  be  that  of 
Capt.  Spencer  of  the  militia.  The  lad  had  been  seen  fighting  by 
his  father's  side  during  the  engagement,  and  even  after  his  death, 
at  one  moment  weeping  for  his  parent,  the  next  loading  his  rifle  and 
firing  upon  the  enemy.  Capt.  Snelling  was  much  interested  in  the 
boy,  took  charge  of  him,  and  afterwards  petitioned  for  a  cadet's 
warrant,  which  he  received,  and  sent  him  to  West  Point.  From 
that  institution  he  graduated  at  the  termination  of  four  years  with 
honor,  and  while  there  sent  every  month  half  his  pay  to  his  widowed 
mother,  then  in  Kentucky.  He  received  a  commission  in  the  army 
and  many  years  afterwards  died,  having  the  rank  of  major. 

Before  leaving  the  Maumee,  Gen.  Hull  sent  a  vessel  to  Detroit, 
in  which  were  placed  his  sick  and  most  of  his  goods,  sending  with  it 
his  instructions  and  army  roll.  The  British  at  Maiden  having  in- 
formation of  the  declaration  of  war,  captured  the  vessel  and  unsus- 
pecting crew,  and  from  them  received  the  first  intelligence  of  the 
war.  Capt.  Gooding,  of  the  4th  regiment,  and  his  wife  were  on 
board.  She  related  afterwards  an  exploit  of  her's  while  at  Maiden, 
which  showed  the  tenderness  of  female  nature  combined  with  manly 
perseverance  and  courage.  The  prisoners  were  confined  below  deck, 
and  very  much  crowded,  as  it  was  a  small  vessel ;  the  weather  was 
very  warm,  they  were  fed  with  salt  meat,  without  sugar,  tea  or 


ABIGAIL   SNELLING.  311 

coffee,  and  many  fell  sick.  When  Mrs.  Gooding  was  told  by  the 
Captain  of  their  situation,  she  set  her  wits  to  work  to  contrive  how 
to  relieve  them.  She  knew  they  were  soon  to  be  sent  in  the  same 
vessel  to  Montreal,  and  no  time  was  to  be  lost.  She  obtained  leave 
from  one  in  authority  to  visit  a  family  up  the  river  with  whom  she 
had  formerly  been  acquainted,  and  walked  on  a  mile  or  more  alone, 
without  exactly  knowing  what  she  was  about  to  do,  when  she  ob- 
served a  large  house  on  a  farm  which  seemed  blessed  with  abund- 
ance. She  entered,  introduced  herself  to  the  lady  of  the  house,  and 
told  her,  in  a  very  pathetic  narrative,  who  she  was,  the  situation  of 
the  sick  prisoners,  and  her  desire  to  awaken  sympathy  in  the  *hearts 
of  those  who  had  it  in  their  power  to  relieve  them.  The  lady  hesi- 
tated a  moment  and  then  said,  "  What  can  I  do  in  this  matter  ?  If 
I  listen  to  the  dictates  of  my  own  heart,  I  could  easily  fill  you 
a  basket  with  coffee,  tea  and  sugar,  rice,  etc.,  but  I  dare  not  send 
it."  "  Listen  to  the  dictates  of  that  heart,"  cried  Mrs.  Gooding,  "  I 
myself  will  carry  the  basket,  and  if  you  have  fresh  meat  for  soup  I 
can  conceal  it  in  the  bushes  until  I  can  convey  it  to  the  vessel." 
The  lady  immediately  had  a  lamb  killed  ;  Mrs.  Gooding  herself  hid 
it ;  managed  to  carry  the  basket  on  board  that  afternoon,  and  in 
the  evening,  before  nine  o'clock,  the  four  quarters  of  lamb. 

Gen.  Hull  arrived  with  his  army  at  Detroit  early  in  July.  Dr. 
Edwards  joined  the  army  at  Dayton,  as  Major  of  one  of  the  regi- 
ments, and  had  John  E.  Hunt  with  him,  so  that  amidst  the  din  of 
war  their  young  sister  was  rejoiced  to  see  them  again.  In  a  few 
days  Capt.  Snelling  was  introduced  to  Miss  Hunt,  as  one  of  the 
heroes  of  Tippecanoe,  by  Maj.  Edwards ;  and  soon  after  the  young 
officer  asked  the  brother's  permission  to  address  her.  In  due  time 
they  were  engaged. 

On  the  12th  July,  Gen.  Hull  crossed  the  river  to  Sandwich,  and 
established  his  forces  there,  with  a  view  to  the  attack  on  Maiden. 
Many  of  the  officers  urged  him  immediately  to  storm  that  place, 
which  was  twelve  miles  below  his  encampment,  and  then  very  weakly 
garrisoned,  as  was  made  known  to  the  officers  by  deserters  who 
came  thence  after  they  heard  Gen.  Hull  had  crossed.  Captain 


312  PIONEEK   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

Snelling  said,  "  Give  me  permission,  and  with  my  company  and 
those  who  will  volunteer,  I  will  make  the  attempt."  Colonels  Cass 
and  Miller,  by  an  attack  on  the  advanced  party,  on  La  Riviere  Can- 
ard, showed  that  the  men  were  able  and  willing  to  push  their  con- 
quest if  the  chance  were  given ;  but  they  were  suddenly  recalled, 
and  the  enterprize  was  abandoned.  On  the  7th  of  August  Gen. 
Hull  returned  to  Detroit,  much  to  the  disappointment  of  the  whole 
army,  who  now  had  lost  all  confidence  in  him,  since  he  had  lost,  by 
refusing  to  listen  to  his  eager  officers,  the  opportunity  of  obtaining 
possession  of  the  key  to  the  Canadian  provinces,  when  it  might  have 
been  taken  with  scarce  the  firing  of  a  gun. 

Col.  Proctor  soon  after  arrived  at  Maiden,  attempted  to  cut  off 
supplies  from  Ohio,  and  succeeded  in  stopping  some  stores  on  their 
way  to  Detroit,  at  the  river  Raisin,  thirty-six  miles  distant,  defeating 
Van  Horn,  who  had  been  sent  by  Gen.  Hull  to  escort  them.  On 
receiving  this  intelligence,  Gen.  Hull  sent  three  hundred  regulars, 
the  4th  Regiment  and  two  hundred  militia,  under  the  command  of 
Col.  James  Miller,  to  open  the  communication.  The  British  had 
thrown  up  a  breastwork  four  miles  from  Brownstown,  at  a  place 
called  Monguagon,  behind  which  a  great  jmmber  of  the  Indians  under 
Tecumseh  lay  concealed.  On  the  9th  of  August,  while  on  its  march, 
the  detachment  drew  near  the  ambuscade.  The  advanced  guard, 
commanded  by  Capt.  Snelling,  was  considerably  in  advance  of  the 
main  body  when  suddenly  the  attack  was  made  on  him.  His  party 
sustained  themselves  until  Gen.  Miller,  with  the  utmost  speed  and 
coolness,  drew  up  his  men,  opened  a  brisk  fire  and  then  charged. 
The  British  regulars  gave  way,  but  the  Indians  under  Tecumseh 
betaking  themselves  to  the  woods  on  each  side,  did  much  execution. 
The  British  again  rallied,  and  were  again  repulsed  ;  and  Majors  Midl- 
and Tecumseh  both  being  wounded,  were  compelled  to  yield,  retiring 
slowly  before  the  bayonets  to  Brownstown.  They  would  all  have 
been  taken  prisoners  had  they  not  had  boats  in  readiness  to  cross 
the  river.  During  the  engagement  a"  mounted  officer  delayed  charg- 
ing as  he  was  ordered  ;  Capt.  Snelling  directed  him  to  dismount, 
and  himself  sprung  upon  the  horse.  The  officer  being  a  tall  man, 


ABIGAIL   SHELLING.  313 

he  found  the  stirrups  much  too  long,  but  there  was  no  time  to  be 
lost ;  he  therefore  clung  to  the  horse  with  his  knees,  and  in  this 
ludicrous  predicament  performed  the  duty  which  belonged  to  another. 
His  brother  officers  often  laughed  at  the  recollection  of  his  appear- 
ance at  that  time. 

Meanwhile  his  friends  in  Detroit  hearing  the  roar  of  the  cannon 
knew  there  was  fighting.  Thomas  Hunt  was  then  a  volunteer,  and 
the  feelings  of  the  young  girl,  whose  brother  and  betrothed  lover 
were  in  danger,  may  be  imagined.  Young  Hunt  had  rode  a  white 
horse,  which  returned  and  stood  at  the  stable  door,  the  saddle  pulled 
away  and  covered  with  blood ;  and  the  conclusion  was  inevitable 
that  he  had  fallen  from  his  horse,  either  killed  or  wounded.  As 
cart  after  cart  came  in  with  the  wounded,  Miss  Hunt  heard  it  whis- 
pered, "  It  must  be  Capt.  Snelling,"  and  on  enquiry  was  informed 
that  an  officer  answering  the  description  of  him  had  been  mortally 
wounded.  In  the  agony  of  her  feelings  she  was  about  rushing  by  all 
to  the  cart  when  she  was  forcibly  detained,  and  some  one  went  to  as- 
certain if  it  indeed  was  so  ;  but  soon  returned  with  a  bright  counte- 
nance, saying,  "  it  is  not  Snelling,  it  is  Peters,  and  he  is  only  slightly 
wounded."  On  further  inquiry  she  learned  that  Mr.  Hunt  was  safe, 
having  given  up  his  horse  for  the  use  of  a  wounded  man  who  had 
fainted  and  fallen  off.  The  next  day  the  absentees  returned.  In 
this  engagement  Capt.  Snelling  had  his  hat  knocked  off  by  a  ball, 
and  the  hilt  of  his  sword  grazed.  At  one  time  he  observed  an 
Indian  from  behind  a  tree  very  near  him  raise  his  rifle  to  shoot  him ; 
he  sprang  forward,  knocked  the  gun  from  his  grasp,  and  plunged 
the  point  of  his*  sword  through  his  neck,  when  he  fell  lifeless.  The 
Captain  supposed  from  the  situation  of  the  Indian  that  he  had  been 
previously  wounded. 

On  the  13th  of  August,  Miss  Hunt,  then  only  fifteen  years  old, 
was  married  to  Capt.  Snelling  by  the  Chaplain  of  Gen.  Hull's  army. 
General  Hull  and  several  other  officers  were  present,  with  a  few 
ladies.  The  ceremony  had  been  performed  but  a  few  moments 
when  the  drum  beat  to  arms ;  and  Capt.  Snelling  instantly  started 
up  to  go  in  search  of  his  sword.  All  rushed  to  the  door  except 
14 


314:  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

Gen.  Hull,  who  laying  his  hand  on  the  young  officer's  shoulder  as 
he  was  about  leaving  the  house,  said,  "  Snelling,  you  need  not  go,  I 
will  excuse  you."  "  By  no  means,"  was  the  reply,  "  I  feel  more  like 
doing  my  duty  now  than  ever."  "  Stay,  it  is  a  false  alarm  by  my 
order,"  said  the  General. 

About  this  time,  Gen.  Brock  reached  Maiden  with  reinforcements, 
and  immediately  planted  batteries  opposite  the  fort  of  Detroit. 
From  Col.  Hunt's  house  the  family  could  distinctly  see  the  men  at 
work,  by  the  aid  of  a  spy  glass.  Then  were  seen  two  British  officers 
with  a  white  flag  of  truce,  crossing  at  the  ferry  ;  they  were  met  at 
the  wharf  and  blindfolded,  and  were  conducted  to  the  first  house, 
which  happened  to  be  that  of  Col.  Hunt.  The  youthful  bride  saw 
them  enter  the  parlor  with  Gen.  Hull,  his  aid,  who  was  his  son,  and 
some  others ;  and  the  door  was  locked.  They  demanded,  in  the 
name  of  Gen.  Brock,  a  surrender,  stating  that  he  should  otherwise 
be  unable  to  restrain  the  fury  of  the  savages,  but  were  answered  by 
a  spirited  refusal.  The  British  officers  returned  to  the  boat  in  the 
same  manner,  and  presently  the  firing  commenced  from  their  bat- 
teries, and  continued  without  much  effect  until  the  next  morning. 

About  this  time  Michilimackinac  was  captured,  and  Lieut.  Hanks, 
who  commanded,  was  sent  on  parole  to  Detroit ;  his  wife  being  with 
him.  His  command  consisted  of  but  fifty  men,  the  enemy  numbered 
over  one  thousand,  including  Indians ;  and  Lieut.  Hanks  had  received 
no  information  of  the  declaration  of  war  !  Being  on  parole,  he  was  of 
course  bound  to  remain  neutral,  and  it  happened  that  he  was  in  a 
room  with  some  others,  when  a  shell  from  the  enemy  passed  into 
the  room,  scattering  death  and  destruction.  Mrs.  Hanks  was  with 
the  other  ladies  in  an  adjoining  room,  where  all  were  employed  in 
making  flannel  bags  to  put  powder  in  for  the  cannon.  When  they 
heard  the  report  and  the  groans,  all  rushed  to  the  door,  for  it  was 
but  a  narrow  entry  that  divided  the  two  rooms.  Mrs.  Hanks  was 
in  advance,  when  the  door  was  opened  by  one  of  the  wounded,  and 
Lieut.  Hanks  was  seen  with  his  bowels  torn  open  and  dreadfully  dis- 
figured. A  blanket  was  immediately  thrown  over  him  by  one  who 
came  in.  Three  others  had  been  badly  wounded  and  two  killed  by 


ABIGAIL    SNELLING.  315 

that  single  bomb-shell.  Mrs.  Hanks  saw  at  a  glance  the  condition 
of  her  husband,  and  that  there  was  no  hope  of  life,  and  for  a  time 
she  was  bereft  of  reason. 

It  having  been  reported  by  some  Frenchmen,  that  the  British 
were  preparing  to  cross  the  river  opposite  Spring  Wells,  Capt.  Snel- 
ling  was  sent  to  watch  their  movements  and  report.  He  left 
Detroit  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  with  a  detachment  of  men> 
and  returning  next  morning  before  daylight,  he  reported  to  the 
General  that  from  appearances,  they  would  cross  the  river  at  that 
point,  three  miles  from  Detroit,  that  morning.  The  alarm  of  Gen. 
Hull  now  became  extreme,  and  his  appearance  that  morning  was 
pitiable.  The  balls  were  flying  very  fast  over  the  fort,  and  several 
men  were  killed  ;  the  chimney  of  the  room  in  which  the  ladies  were 
at  work,  was  struck  and  fell  with  some  of  the  roof  into  the  apart- 
ment. The  ladies  were  then  advised  to  go  into  an  empty  bomb- 
proof magazine  for  safety,  and  took  Mrs.  Hanks  with  them,  she  being 
quite  frantic.  In  passing  the  parade  ground  several  shells  burst  over 
them,  but  they  escaped  injury,  and  reaching  the  magazine  found  it 
filled  with  women  and  children  from  the  town ;  some  fainting,  and 
some  in  convulsions  with  fear.  The  picture  of  woe  was  complete 
when  Mrs.  Hanks  was  placed  among  the  sufferers.  Presently,  Mrs. 
Snelling  heard  herself  called  by  name,  and  going  to  the  door,  found 
it  was  her  husband.  He  said,  "  My  dear  wife,  I  know  not  what 
moment  I  may  be  shot  down ;  I  have  come  to  say  farewell,  and  ask 
you  to  make  me  a  promise,  that  in  case  I  fall  you  will  never  marry 
an  Englishman"  His  weeping  bride  assented  without  being  able 
to  speak,  and  they  parted. 

While  the  British  were  crossing  the  river,  Gen.  Hull  was  entreated 
by  the  officers  to  prevent  their  landing,  which  they  insisted  could  be 
done ;  at  least,  they  might  sink  every  other  boat ;  but  he  would  not 
allow  a  gun  to  be  fired.  The  field  officers,  suspecting  he  intended 
to  surrender,  determined  on  his  arrest ;  this,  however,  was  prevented, 
in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  Colonels  Cass  and  McArthur,  who 
had  been  detached  with  four  hundred  men  on  a  third  expedition  to 
the  river  Raisin.  Had  they  been  present,  there  is  no  doubt  the 


316  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

project  would  have  been  carried  into  effect.  On  that  morning  Gen. 
Miller  was  very  ill  of  chill  and  fever. 

The  morning  of  the  16th  (three  days  after  the  marriage  of  our  fair 
friend)  the  British  landed  at  Spring  Wells,  and  marched  up  in  solid 
column  along  the  river  bank.  The  American  troops  now  eagerly 
waited  for  orders ;  they  were  strongly  fortified,  and  cannon  loaded 
with  grape  stood  on  a  commanding  eminence,  ready  to  sweep  the 
advancing  columns.  At  this  crisis,  what  was  their  mortification  and 
disappointment,  when  orders  were  given  them  to  retire  within  the 
fort !  When  there,  Capt.  Snelling  saw  Gen.  Hull's  aid  trying  to 
plant  a  white  flag :  "  Snelling,"  said  he,  "  come  and  help  me  fix  this 
flag,"  "  No,  sir  ;  I  will  not  soil  my  hands  with  that  flag,"  was  the 
indignant  answer. 

Gen  Hull,  panic-stricken,  surrendered  the  fortress  without  even 
stipulating  the  terms ;  even  Colonels  Cass  and  McArthur's  detach- 
ment was  included.  Language  cannot  adequately  describe  or  ex- 
press the  emotions  that  filled  the  hearts  of  those  brave  soldiers,  as 
they  stacked  their  arms  to  be  conveyed  away  by  the  British  soldiers. 
Mrs.  Snelling  now  returned  to  her  brother's  house,  and  for  the  first 
time  saw  Tecumseh.  He  was  a  noble  looking  warrior,  on  horseback 

O  ' 

at  the  head  of  his  band  of  Indians,  who  had  fired  off  their  guns 
before  they  were  permitted  to  enter  the  town ;  they  passed  by  the 
door  in  good  order,  being  evidently  under  restraint ;  but  how  long 
would  it  last!  It  was  felt  to  be  a  relief  when  Capt.  Snelling  in- 
formed his  wife  the  vessels  were  in  sight  in  which  all  the  prisoners 
were  to  embark.  Col.  H.  1.  Hunt  was  permitted  to  remain  on 
parole,  Detroit  being  his  home,  and  John  E.  Hunt  stayed  with  him  ; 
but  Thomas,  afterwards  a  captain  in  the  army,  and  the  broth  er-in- 
law,  Maj.  Edwards,  accompanied  the  prisoners.  They  were  put  on 
board  the  Queen  Charlotte,  where  they  found  Gen.  Hull  and  staff, 
with  several  other  officers  and  their  wives.  They  were  very  much 
crowded,  the  state-rooms  being  occupied  by  the  General  and  his  staff, 
while  the  rest  made  pallets  on  the  cabin  floor.  It  may  be  supposed 
that  no  one  slept  much  that  night.  Gen.  Hull's  conduct  was  freely 
discussed  within  his  hearing ;  and  bitter,  bitter  indeed,  were  the  feel- 


ABIOAIL   SNELLING.  317 

ings  expressed  against  him.  The  next  day,  much  to  the  satisfaction 
of  Mrs.  Snelling,  her  party,  with  others,  was  put  on  board  the  vessel 
commanded  by  Captain  Mackintosh,  at  his  request.  He  gave  her 
up  his  own  stateroom,  and  handed  her  the  key  of  the  box  that  con- 
tained his  preserves  and  other  niceties.  „  He  told  the  prisoners  that 
if  the  army  had  marched  to  Maiden  at  the  time  they  crossed  the 
viver,  that  post  would  have  been  taken  without  the  cost  of  a  life. 

When  they  arrived  at  Erie,  the  ^British  guards  took  charge  of 
the  captive  troops,  and  each  American  captain  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  his  company,  surrounded  by  a  British  guard,  and  marched 
to  Fort  George,  eighteen  miles,  where  vessels  were  in  readiness  to 
proceed  to  Kingston.  Gen.  Hull  and  his  staff  were  placed  in  car- 
nages. Mackintosh  promised  Capt.  Snelling  he  would  place  his 
young  wife  in  the  hands  of  a  friend,  who  would  see  that  she  had 
a  conveyance  to  join  him.  at  Fort  George.  He  did  so,  but  was 
obliged  to  return  to  his  vessel ;  however,  Mr.  Warren  promised  to 
send  her  the  same  afternoon.  Soon  after  she  was  joined  by  the 
wife  of  Capt.  Fuller,  of  the  4th  regiment.  When  Capt.  Snelling 
then  bade  a  brief  adieu  to  his%wife,  "  You  may  have  need  of  money," 
said  he,  and  gave  her  a  half  eagle. 

With  much  impatience  the  ladies  waited  for  Mr.  Warren  to 
make  his  appearance  with  a  carriage.  When  tea  was  ready  he 
came,  but  said  all  the  carriages  in  the  place  were  gone,  and  he  could 
furnish  nothing  better  than  a  lumber  wagon.  They  eagerly  ex- 
claimed, "  That  will  do,  let  us  have  it !"  "  But  you  must  not  go 
on  to-night,  it  is  too  late,"  he  persisted  ;  "  the  roads  are  filled  with 
straggling  Indians  ;  it  will  not  do — it  would  be  rashness  to  venture. 
I  will  have  everything  ready  by  daylight  to-morrow  morning."  The 
ladies  remonstrated  against  delay.  "  They  have  all  gone ;  the 
troops  will  embark,  and  sail  without  us,  and  we  shall  be  left  be- 
hind." "Oh,  no!"  replied  Warren;  "unless  the  wind  changes 
they  cannot  leave." 

His  involuntary  guests  passed  a  sleepless  night  in  his  house. 
They  were  up  two  hours  before  daylight,  and  endeavored  in  vari- 
ous ways  to  rouse  their  host,  but  in  vain.  Day  dawned  ;  they 


318  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

opened  the  window,  to  see  if  the  wind  had  changed  ;  it  blew  from 
the  same  direction,  and  they  were  more  calm.  When  the  sun  rose, 
they  went  to  Mr.  Warren  immediately,  and  begged  the  fulfilment 
of  his  promise.  He  went  out,  and  expecting  him  back  every 
moment,  they  got  their  luggage  ready  in  the  hall,  every  moment 
seeming  an  age.  At  length,  a  negro  man  drove  up  to  the  door 
about  nine  o'clock,  in  a  large  lumber  wagon ;  their  hearts  sank 
within  them,  for  they  had  supposed  that  Mr.  Warren  would  accom- 
pany them.  The  man  came  into  the  hall,  and  asked,  "  Is  this  the 
luggage  ?  Heavy  load ! — take  all  day  to  get  there  !"  "  And  is  not 
Mr.  Warren  going  with  us  ?"  "  No,  marm  ;  cannot  go  ;  told  me  to 
go."  Thus  the  wedding  tour  of  our  fair  bride  promised  to  be  an 
adventurous  one !  Their  fears  were  divided  between  the  negro 
man  and  the  Indians  who  were  straggling  on  the  roads.  They  had 
a  great  deal  of  baggage,  and  were  completely  in  the  power  of  the 
driver.  Mrs.  Snelling  said  to  him  imploringly,  "  If  you  will  make 
haste,  and  take  us  safely  through,  I  will  give  you  this  gold  piece, 
and  our  husbands,  who  are  both  Captains  in  the  American  army, 
will  pay  you  well  besides."  The  man  answered  that  he  would  do 
his  best. 

When  he  stopped  to  water  the  horses  at  a  tavern,  there  were  a 
number  of  Indians  about  the  house,  and  the  ladies  begged  the 
driver  not  to  let  them  know  they  were  prisoners.  They  remained 
in  the  wagon  while  he  went  for  water,  watching  him  narrowly 
however,  and  not  suffering  him  to  delay  a  moment.  When  he  re- 
sumed his  seat,  they  breathed  more  freely.  At  noon  some  crackers 
and  cheese  were  purchased,  and  they  prevailed  upon  the  driver  to 
be  satisfied  with  it  for  his  dinner.  Often  they  met  three  or  four 
Indians,  who  sometimes  stopped  the  driver  to  talk  to  him,  and 
were  inquisitive  to  know  who  the  women  were,  what  was  in  the 
trunks,  &c.,  &c.  During  such  times,  although  the  prisoners  trem- 
bled in  every  nerve,  they  appeared  in  a  very  merry  mood,  signify- 
ing to  them  and  the  driver  that  they  were  in  a  hurry.  He  cracked 
his  whip,  and  as  they  went  on,  leaving  the  Indians  behind,  they  set 
up  a  frightful  yell,  enough  to  chill  the  blood  with  fear. 


ABIGAIL    SWELLING.  319 

As  they  drew  near  Fort  George,  they  became  still  more  anxious 
for  as  nearly  as  they  could  judge  the  wind  had  changed,  or  was 
changing.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  still  they  had  some 
distance  to  go.  Within  a  few  miles  of  the  fort,  they  met  a  foot 
traveller  from  there,  who  told  them  all  the  vessels  had  gone  ex- 
cept one.  In  that  one  Capt.  Snelling  and  Capt.  Fuller  were 
pacing  the  deck,  sometimes  looking  with  eagerness  towards  the 
shore,  then  beseeching  the  Captain  of  the  sloop,  who  was  a  kind- 
hearted  man,  to  delay  only  a  little  longer,  notwithstanding  orders 
had  been  sent  him  to  proceed.  Just  as  the  words,  "  I  can  wait  no 
longer,  I  must  obey  orders,"  passed  his  lips,  handkerchiefs  were 
seen  waving  from  the  shore  ;  a  boat  was  sent,  and  the  travellers 
were  soon  in  their  husbands'  arms.  Even  the  rough  but  kind- 
hearted  sailor  witnessing  the  scene,  wiped  his  eyes ;  and  as  the  good 
Captain  approached,  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  It  was  a 
joyous,  though  a  tearful  meeting. 

The  next  thought  was  for  the  baggage.  Where  was  it  ?  It  had 
been  left  in  the  lumber  wagon,  for  no  one  had  bestowed  a 
thought  upon  it,  and  the  vessel  was  already  miles  from  shore.  The 
negro  probably  carried  it  home  as  a  prize,  for  the  owners  never 
heard  of  it  again,  though  for  some  time  they  entertained  a  hope 
that  the  trunks  would  be  forwarded  to  them.  The  Captain  seemed 
to  take  quite  an  interest  in  Mrs.  Snelling,  having  learned 'she  was  a 
bride  of  but  two  weeks,  and  so  young ;  and  his  kind  feeling  was 
manifested  by  giving  up  to  her  his  own  stateroom,  and  sometimes 
sending  nice  things  from  his  table  to  her.  Such  kindness,  at 
such  a  time,  was  sensibly  felt  and  appreciated.  Capt.  Snelling  told 
his  wife  he  had  a  little  difficulty  while  on  the  march  with  one  of 
the  British  officers  who  was  with  the  guard.  It  was  a  very  warm 
day,  and  almost  choked  with  dust  and  thirst,  he  stepped  on  the 
grass,  a  very  short  distance  from  where  he  was  marching,  when  the 
officer  rudely  pushed  him  back.  Pale  with  rage,  "  Sir,"  said  Snel- 
ling, "  had  I  my  sword  by  my  side,  you  would  not  thus  dare  to  lay 
hands  upon  me.  I  trust  the  day  may  come  when  I  shall  be  able  to 
show  you  how  a  gentleman  ought  to  behave  under  similar  circum- 
14* 


320  .PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

stances."  It  was  not  a  little  singular  that  this  same  officer  was  after- 
wards taken  prisoner  by  the  Americans,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Capt.  Snelling,  to  be  conducted  to  Fort  Erie.  He  was  a  married 
man,  and  expected  to  have  been  detained  a  long  time  from  his 
family.  But  his  generous  foe,  then  Inspector-General,  used  his  in- 
fluence to  effect  his  exchange.  They  parted  with  expressions  of 
sincere  friendship. 

The  stay  of  the  prisoners  at  Kingston  was  only  sufficiently  long  to 
remove  them  from  the  vessels  to  the  large  barges  or  batteaux  which 
were  in  readiness  for  the  descent  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  lot  of 
our  party  fell  again  to  the  same  boat  in  which  were  Gen.  Hull  and 
staff.  The  journey  was  without  much  incident.  At  night  they 
stopped  at  some  small  village,  where  lodging  in  bed-rooms  could  not 
be  had  for  all  who  applied ;  and  several  times  the  high-spirited 
Capt.  Snelling  would  rebel  and  give  expression  to  his  feelings, 
when  a  room  for  which  he  had  spoken,  would  be  given  to  a  British 
officer. 

On  arriving  at  St.  John's,  four  or  five  miles  from  Montreal, 
the  prisoners  were  ordered  to  be  arranged  by  companies,  with 
their  officers,  and  marched  under  guard  to  the  city.  Gen.  Hull 
and  staff,  with  an  escort  of  British  officers,  went  in  carriages ;  the 
officers'  ladies  two  and  two  in  gigs,  and  then  the  troops  in  the 
rear,  with  a  guard  on  each  side,  completed  the  procession.  When 
they  reached  the  city,  a  full  band  of  music  went  in  advance  of  Gen. 
Hull's  carriage,  and  began  to  play  Yankee  Doodle.  The  General 
having  said  in  his  proclamation  "  I  will  go  through  Montreal  with 
Yankee  Doodle,"  they  were  determined  to  make  good  his  promise. 

It  was  evening,  and  the  streets  were  illuminated,  every  window  in 
every  house  being  filled  with  lights,  and  when  the  procession  came 
opposite  Nelson's  Monument,  there  were  cheers  given,  and  a  cry 
"  hats  off!"  An  attempt  was  made  to  compel  all  to  the  act  of 
reverence,  by  knocking  off  the  prisoners'  hats  or  caps.  A  militi;i 
officer  tried  it  with  Capt.  Snelling,  "  At  your  peril,  Sir,  touch  rno  ;" 
was  the  quick  warning,  and  before  he  could  do  anything  rash,  a, 
regular  officer  rode  up  and  rebuked  the  militia  officer.  At  this 


ABIGAIL   SPELLING. 

moment  a  lady  made  her  way  through  the  crowd  and  guard 
towards  the  prisoners,  and  fell,  overcome  by  emotion.  She  was 
lifted  up,  and  the  Captain  recognized  Mrs.  Goodiug.  His  party 
was  conducted  to  a  hotel,  where  they  met  Capt.  Gooding  also. 

During  tho  evening,  after  they  had  taken  possession  of  their  room, 
a  tap  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  a  servant  brought  in  a  tray,  on 
which  were  glasses  and  a  decanter  of  wine,  placed  it  on  the  table, 
and  said — "  Capt.  F —  will  be  here  to  see  you,  Capt.  Snelling." 
He  entered  soon  after,  and  Capt.  Snelling  saw  in  him  the  gentle- 
man who  had  insisted  on  knocking  off  his  cap  ;  he  came  to  apolo- 
gize for  his  conduct,  and  requested  permission  to  drink  a  glass  of 
wine  with  him.  In  a  few  days  the  married  officers  were  paroled, 
and  left  Montreal  on  their  way  to  Boston.  Here  Captain  and  Mrs. 
Snelling  remained  until  he  was  exchanged,  at  which  time  he  was 
ordered  to  Plattsburg  to  join  Gen.  Hampton's  army.  The  admi- 
rable wife,  who  had  shared  his  dangers,  remained  in  Boston.  The 
separation  lasted  some  months,  when  unexpectedly  the  Captain 
made  his  appearance,  informing  Mrs.  Snelling  that  he  was  going  to 
Washington  city,  having  an  extremely  unpleasant  duty  to  perform, 
that  of  taking  a  man  into  custody  that  very  night  while  in  bed,  one 
of  a  party  who  supplied  the  enemy  with  provisions,  and  must  be 
taken  to  Washington.  He  left  his  wife  about  twelve  o'clock  at 
night,  saying  he  should  have  assistance,  and  she  must  not  be 
uneasy,  for  that  if  he  succeeded  in  securing  the  man,  he  would  stop 
in  the  carriage  and  let  her  know  of  his  safety.  In  two  hours  he 
returned,  told  her  they  had  succeeded,  and  that  the  prisoner  was  in 
irons  in  the  carriage,  with  a  guard.  "  I  pity  his  poor  wife,"  added 

he,  "  I  wish  you  to  take  a  carriage  to-morrow,  drive  to  No. , 

Water  Street,  ask  for  the  lady  of  the  house,  and  say  to  her  that  her 
husband  will  be  in  Washington,  for  a  few  days,  and  then  return  to 
her  in  safety."  In  two  weeks  Capt.  Snelling  came  back  ;  the  man 
had  turned  States'  evidence  against  others,  and  had  been  dismissed. 

About  this  time  Mrs.  Snelling's  eldest  child  was  born — she  being 
only  sixteen  years  of  age.  Her  little  daughter  Mary  beguiled  many 
an  anxious  hour  of  separation  from  her  father  ;  that  father  being  in 


322  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

constant  peril.  He  passed  through  many  dangers  while  in  Platts- 
burg  and  its  vicinity,  and  rose  rapidly  in  rank,  Generals  Izard  and 
Macomb  being  in  command.  Mrs.  Snelling  joined  him  there.  Be- 
fore long  Gen.  Izard's  division  was  ordered  to  Fort  Erie, 'and  Capt. 
Snelling  belonged  to  that  division.  His  wife  remained  in  Burling- 
ton, on  the  other  side  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  was  there  when 
Commodore  McDonough  gained  his  victory,  hearing  distinctly  the 
roar  of  the  artillery,  and  relieved  beyond  measure  when  the  news 
came  of  the  victory.  It  was  shouted  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and 
from  door  to  door,  "  Victory  !  Victory  !" 

The  details  of  the  siege  of  Fort  Erie  may  be  found  in  historical 
works.  At  this  time  Snelling  was  in  the  staff  of  Gen.  Izard,  and 
was  Inspector-general,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel.  Gen.  Brown  com- 
manded at  Fort  Erie.  When  the  troops  went  into  winter  quarters 
at  Buffalo,  Mrs.  Snelling  again  joined  him  at  Buffalo  with  her  little 
daughter.  She  had  travelled  forty-one  miles  on  horse-back,  over  the 
very  same  corduroy  roads  she  had  been  carried  over  eighteen  years 
before.  Her  brother,  Capt.  Hunt,  met  her  at  Batavia  and  carried 
little  Mary  on  a  pillow  before  him  ;  she  had  been  very  ill,  and  the 
journey  restored  her  to  health. 

After  peace  was  proclaimed,  Col.  Snelling  and  his  family,  accompa- 
nied by  his  wife's  brother,  left  Buffalo  to  visit  friends  in  Detroit. 
They  embarked  in  a  small  vessel  with  a  favorable  wind,  but  the  next 
day  there  were  indications  of  a  storm ;  the  wind  veered  round  and  they 
beat  about  the  lake  several  days.  When  the  storm  began  to  rage 
with  fury,  there  were  no  safe  harbors  near,  and  they  made  but  little 
progress — and  were  out  of  provisions  and  fuel.  A  few  potatoes  were 
found,  but  no  fire  to  cook  them.  Mrs.  Snelling  was  very  sea-sick, 
and  did  not  require  food,  but  her  little  Mary  lay  by  her  side  gnaw- 
ing a  raw  potatoe.  The  storm  still  increased,  but  the  captain  of  the 
vessel  hoped  to  reach  Cleveland  with  the  side  wind,  and  at  daylight 
the  third  day  they  found  themselves  opposite  that  place,  though 
they  dared  not  approach  the  wharf.  Guns  of  distress  were  fired 
but  with  little  hope,  for  men  could  not  be  found  to  risk  their  own  lives 
to  save  them.  The  captain  then  announced  that  his  anchor  dragged 


ABIGAIL    SWELLING.  323 

and  he  feared  would  not  hold  the  vessel.  Soon  were  seen  prepara- 
tions to  man  a  boat ;  it  pushed  off  from  shore  and  approached  the 
shoals  ;  then  was  the  greatest  danger  ;  it  passed  over  and  reached 
the  vessel.  Capt.  Hunt  came  to  his  sister  and  said,  "  Abby,  what 
will  you  do ;  remain  here  in  so  much  peril,  or  go  in  the  boat,  where 
there  is  perhaps  greater?"  She  replied,  "I  will  go."  She  was 
taken  upon  deck ;  the  waves  were  terrific ;  the  boat  would  now  rise 
on  the  summit  of  a  huge  billow,  now  plunge  into  a  deep  abyss,  and 
it  seemed  impossible  that  the  lady  and  her  child  could  be  placed  in 
the  boat.  But  in  spite  of  peril,  she  hardly  knew  how,  she  was 
seated  in  the  boat  with  her  child  and  her  brother,  and  after  a  few 
minutes  gained  courage  to  look  back  towards  the  vessel,  of  which 
she  could  only  see  the  top  of  the  mast.  At  the  moment  they 
reached  the  shoals,  a  huge  wave  broke  over  them  and  half  filled  the 
boat.  Some  of  the  men  bailed  while  others  plied  the  oars  with  re- 
newed energy.  When  they  touched  land  Mrs.  Snelling  was  taken 
feinting  from  the  boat  and  conveyed  to  an  inn ;  and  it  was  several 
days  before  she  recovered  from  the  terrors  of  that  storm. 

Great  was  the  joy  that  prevailed  in  the  heart  of  every  wife  at  the 
return  of  peace.  In  the  following  spring,  Snelling  under  the  peace 
organization,  was  Lieut.  Colonel  of  the  6th  infantry,  and  ordered  to 
Governor's  Island.  Col.  Atkinson  commanding.  He  remained  there 

/  o 

with  his  family  over  a  year,  when  the  regiment  was  ordered  to 
Plattsburg,  where  they  had  resided  about  four  years  when  an  order 
cams  for  St.  Louis,  en  route  for  the  Upper  Mississippi  or  Missouri ! 
Mrs.  Snelling  had  then  three  children,  and  her  youngest  sister  and 
one  of  her  brothers,  a  graduate  from  West  Point — Lieut.  Welling- 
ton Hunt,  then  a  married  man — were  with  her  family. 

The  troops  went  up  to  the  barracks  at  Bellefountain,  where  she 
visited  the  graves  of  her  parents,  finding  them  in  good  order  with 
the  exception  of  the  railing  which  enclosed  the  mounds.  Her 
youngest  child,  fifteen  months  old,  was  then  very  ill ;  he  had  been 
named  Thomas,  after  his  grandfather.  He  died  and  was  buried  beside 
his  brave  ancestor.  During  the  winter  of  their  stay  there,  the  sis- 


324  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

ter,  Eliza  M.  Hunt,  was  married  to  Mr.  Soulard,  a  French  gentleman 
of  great  worth. 

In  the  following  summer,  Snelling  was  promoted  Colonel  of  the 
5th  regiment,  and  ordered  up  the  Mississippi,  to  relieve  Lieut.  Colo 
nel  Leaven  worth  $  who  was  also  promoted  to  another  regiment.  He 
had  conducted  the  5th  regiment  from  Detroit  to  within  eight  miles 
of  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  The  journey  was  exceedingly  tedious 
and  disagreeable,  in  a  keel  boat  laboriously  propelled  by  men  with 

ng  poles,  placed  against  their  shoulders,  along  a  gangway  on  each 
side  of  the  boat.  The  weather  was  very  warm  and  the  musquitoes 
numerous  day  and  night.  The  cabin  was  very  low,  confined,  and 
uncomfortable.  It  was  three  weeks  or  more  before  they  arrived  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  during  which  time  very  little  sound  sleep  was 
obtained  by  the  young  mother,  from  fear  of  the  Indians,  the  Sac  and 
Fox,  the  most  savage  looking  and  ferocious  she  had  ever  seen. 
They  seemed  to  be  very  fond  of  dress,  and  their  faces  were  painted 
of  all  colors ;  the  hair  cut  close  to  within  an  inch  of  the  top  of  the 
head,  and  that  decorated  with  a  variety  of  ribbons  and  feathers,  and 
often  a  small  looking-glass  suspended  from  the  neck.  Many  of 
them  were  certainly  great  beaux,  but  they  looked  hideous,  and 
were  terrific  objects  to  a  timid  woman. 

When  the  voyagers  arrived  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  they  found  Gov. 
Cass  and  his  party  ;  he  held  councils  with  the  Indians,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  about  a  peace  between  the  Sac  and  Fox  tribes,  Chip- 
pewas  and  Sioux.  Our  friends  were  detained  there  several  weeks  by 
a  court-martial,  of  which  Col.  Snelling  was  President.  They  had 
still  three  hundred  miles  to  go  before  they  reached  the  encampment 
of  the  5th  regiment,  and  there  were  several  Indian  villages  on  the 
route.  The  magnificent  scenery  of  this  river  has  been  often  described. 
Lake  Pepin  is  a  beautiful  expansion  about  twenty-four  miles  in  length, 
and  from  two  to  four  broad.  At  length  they  arrived  safe  through 
many  fatigues  to  the  end  of  their  journey,  and  received  a  hearty 
welcome  from  friends  they  had  never  seen  before,  and  from  Capt. 
Gooding  and  his  wife,  whom  they  were  again  delighted  to  meet 


ABIGAIL    SNELLING.  325 

Their  daughter  had  been  married  a  few  days  previous  to  the  Adju- 
tant of  the  regiment. 

o 

Great  solicitude  was  felt  to  have  a  temporary  garrison  erected 
with  such  defences  as  could  be  then  made,  before  the  long  and 
severe  winter  set  in.  The  traders  brought  news  that  the  Indians 
wer*>  very  insolent,  and  it  was  said  a  white  man  had  been  killed  on 
the  St.  Peter's  river.  A  council  was  called  and  the  murderers  were 
•demanded,  hostages  being  taken  from  the  council  until  they  were 
delivered.  They  were  confined  in  the  guard  room,  and  narrowly 
watched.  All  felt  that  the  little  community  was  exposed  and  almost 
at  the  mercy  of  an  enemy,  and  great  exertions  were  made  to  com- 
plete the  temporary  barracks  for  the  winter  with  blockhouses  and 
other  defences.  Indians  meanwhile  were  collecting  in  great  numbers, 
and  would  sometimes  show  themselves  at  a  distance.  The  traders 
in  the  vicinity  often  came  in,  and  said  the  friendly  Indians  had  gone 
in  pursuit  of  the  murderers,  and  no  doubt  would  succeed  in  taking 
them  ;  but  if  they  did  not,  the  friends  of  the  hostages  would  attempt 
to  rescue  them.  Scouts  were  accordingly  kept  out  every  night,  and 
the  troops  slept  on  their  arms.  For  the  mother — trembling  for  her 
little  ones  more  than  herself,  no  sooner  would  she  close  her  eyes 
at  night,  than  she  would  start,  thinking  she  heard  the  war  whoop 
of  the  savages.  The  wolves  too,  half-starved,  were  extremely  dar- 
ing, and  if  the  cook  happened  to  leave  a  bucket  of  swill  at  the  back 
door,  they  were  sure  to  empty  it  of  its  contents. 

As  soon  as  the  log  barracks  were  finished,  the  families  moved  into 
them.  They  were  built  in  four  rows  forming  a  square,  a  block- 
house on  either  side ;  and  situated  where  the  village  of  Mendota 
now  stands.  The  Indian  hostages  were  now  put  in  greater  secu- 
rity.' They  were  evidently  becoming  impatient  of  restraint,  and 
perhaps  had  doubts  as  to  the  result.  One  morning  as  usual,  they 
were  taken  a  short  distance  into  the  woods  under  guard,  when  sud- 
denly one  of  them  (there  were  three)  started  and  ran  for  his  life. 
Those  behind  set  up  a  yell  and  the  guard  fired  at  him,  but  he  was 
beyond  reach.  The  others  were  immediately  taken  back  to  the 
guard-house,  and  an  interpreter  sent  for,  who  enquired  of  them  if  it 


326  PIONEEK   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

was  a  preconcerted  plan  of  the  whole ;  they  declared  it  was  not,  and 
that  until  the  fugitive  started  to  run,  they  were  ignorant  of  his  de- 
sign, and  supposed  it  merely  a  sudden  desire  for  freedom.  They 
said  further  that  he  would  no  doubt  urge  the  immediate  surrender 
of  the  guilty  parties,  and  laughingly  said  the  lad  was  so  fat,  from 
being  so  well  fed,  they  were  surprised  to  see  him  run  so  fast ! 

Col.  Snelling  and  the  Indian  agent  thought  it  advisable  to  send 
the  murderers  to  the  agent  at  St.  Louis,  as  soon  as  they  should  be 
brought  in  and  before  navigation  closed.  At  length  they  came, 
conducted  by  a  large  number  of  their  own  tribe.  There  were  two, 
but  only  one  was  sent  to  St.  Louis,  as  there  was  but  one  white  man 
killed.  It  was  represented  to  the  Indians  in  council,  that  when  one 
white  man  killed  another,  his  life  paid  the  penalty ;  and  since  one 
of  their  people  had  killed  a  white  man  his  life  must  pay  the  forfeit, 
unless  their  great  father  in  Washington  should  pardon  him.  The 
savages  signified  assent  by  a  "  ugh !"  As  soon  as  the  criminal  was 
gone  quiet  was  restored  among  the  Indians  for  the  winter. 

In  September,  1819,  Mrs.  Snelling's  fifth  child  was  born.  Her  sick 
room  was  papered  and  carpeted  with  buffalo  robes,  and  made  quite 
warm  and  comfortable.  There  were  three  ladies  besides  her  in  the 
garrison,  and  they  were  like  one*  family,  spending  their  time  in- 
structing their  children,  and  receiving  instruction  in  the  French 
language  from  a  soldier  who  it  was  said  had  been  an  officer  in 
Buonaparte's  army.  Mrs.  Snelling,  Mrs.  Clark  and  an  officer,  com- 
prised the  class.  During  the  winter,  parties  of  men  were  sent  off  to 
cut  down  trees,  hew  timber,  &c.,  for  the  permanent  fort,  which  was 
to  be  built  on  the  high  point  of  land  between  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Peter's  and  Mississippi,  a  point  selected  by  Gen.  Pike  when  he 
explored  the  river,  as  a  good  site  for  a  fort,  and  on  which  Col. 
Snelling  at  once  decided  it  should  be  built.  There  was  a  tree 
standing  at  the  extreme  point,  with  the  name  of  Pike  carved  on  it 
by  his  own  hand.  Strict  orders  were  given  "  to  spare  that  tree ;" 
for  it  was  looked  upon  by  the  officers  as  sacred  to  his  memory,  and 
was  carefully  guarded,  but  the  care  was  in  vain.  One 'morning  it 
was  found  cut  down,  and  great  was  the  lamentation.  It  never  was 


. 

ABIGAIL   SSTELLING.  327 

Known  who  had  done  the  deed ;  there  was  a  mystery  about  it  that 
Jvas  never  solved. 

The  first  row  of  barracks  that  were  put  up,  were  of  hewn  logs,  the 
others  of  stone.  The  fort  was  built  in  a  diamond  shape,  to  suit  the 
ground  at  the  extreme  point.  Where  the  tree  had  stood,  was  a 
half-moon  battery,  and  inside  this  was  the  officers'  quarters,  a  very 
neat  stone  building,  the  front  of  cut  stone  ;  at  the  opposite  point  a 
tower.  The  fort  was  enclosed  by  a  high  stone  wall,  and  is  well 
represented  in  the  drawings  of  it. 

At  the  expiration  of  two  years,  the  regiment  moved  into  the  fort, 
although  not  completed.  The  families  of  the  officers  occupied 
quarters  in  the  row  assigned  to  them.  It  was  just  before  this  time 
that  Mrs.  Snelling  lost  her  youngest  child — thirteen  months  old. 
In  June,  1823,  the  first  steamboat  made  its  appearance  at  the  fort, 
much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  savages,  who  placed  their  hands 
over  their  mouths — their  usual  way  of  expressing  astonishment,  and 
called  it  a  "  fire-boat."  A  salute  was  fired  from  the  fort,  as  it  was 
expected  that  the  Inspector  general  was  on  board ;  and  it  was 
returned  from  the  boat.  The  Indians  knew  not  what  to  make  of  it, 
and  they  were  greatly  alarmed,  until  all  was  explained.  Additions 
were  made  to  the  society  of  the  garrison ;  several  officers,  who  had 
been  absent,  returned  to  their  regiment,  bringing  wives  and  sisters, 
so  that  at  one  time  the  company  numbered  ten  ladies.  There  were 
six  companies,  which  fully  officered,  would  have  given  eighteen  or 
twenty  officers,  but  there  were  seldom  or  never  that  number  present 
at  one  time.  An  Italian  gentleman  came  on  the  boat,  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  travelling  for  the  purpose  of  writing  a  book,  and 
brought  letters  of  introduction  from  Mrs.  Snelling's  friends  in  St. 
Louis.  The  Colonel  invited  him  to  his  house  to  remain  as  lono-  as 

o 

he  pleased,  and  he  was  with  them  several  months.  He  could  not 
speak  English,  but  spoke  French  fluently,  and  seemed  much  pleased 
when  he  found  his  fair  hostess  could  speak  the  language,  she  having 
learned  it  when  a  child  at  St.  Louis.  A  French  school  was  the  first 
she  ever  attended,  and  she  thus  early  acquired  a  perfectly  correct 
pronunciation.  She  lamented  on  one  occasion  to  Mr.  Beltrami,  that 


328  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   \VE9T. 

her  teacher  had  received  his  discharge,  and  was  about  leaving,  and 
he  politely  offered  his  services  in-  that  capacity.  She  was  then 
translating  the  life  of  Csesar  in  an  abridged  form,  and  from  the  emo- 
tion betrayed  by  the  foreigner  at  a  portion  of  the  reading,  it  was 
concluded  he  had  been  banished  frorn^  the  Pope's  dominions  at 
Rome,  and  that  the  lesson  reminded  him  of  his  misfortunes.  The 
passport  he  showed,  gave  him  the  title  of  "  Le  Chevalier  Count 
Beltrami." 

About  this  time,  Major  Long's  expedition  arrived,  to  explore  the 
St.  Peter's  river,  and  when  they  left  Beltrami  accompanied  them. 
When  his  book  was  published  at  New  Orleans,  he  sent  Mrs.  Snelling 
a  copy.  While  at  the  fort  he  was  busy  in  collecting  Indian  curiosi- 
ties. One  day  he  brought  a  Sioux  chief  into  Mrs.  Snelling's  room, 
who  had  on  his  neck  a  necklace  of  bears'  claws  highly  polished, 
saying,  "  I  cannot  tempt  this  chief  to  part  with  his  necklace,  pray 
see  what  you  can  do  with  him,  he  will  not  refuse  you."  "  He 
wears  it,"  answered  the  lady,  "  as  a  trophy  of  his  prowess,  and  a 
badge  of  honor ;  however,  I  will  try."  After  some  time,  Wanata 
said,  "  On  one  condition  I  will  consent;  if  you  will  cutoff  your  hair, 
braid  it,  and  let  it  take  the  place  of  mine  you  may  have  the  neck- 
lace." All  laughed  heartily  at  his  contrivance  to  get  rid  of  further 
importunity. 

One  day  a  call  was  heard  from  a  sentinel  on  the  river  bank,  to 
the  corporal  of  the  guard,  that  a  child  had  fallen  into  the  river, 
and  several  ran  in  the  direction  the  sentinel  pointed.  The  gardener 
who  was  at  work  at  a  short  distance,  cried  out,  "  It  is  the  Colonel's 
son,  Henry  !  Save  him  !"  His  mother  heard  the  cry,  "  A  child  is 
drowning !"  and  ran  out  upon  the  battery  to  see  and  heaK  what 
was  the  matter.  She  saw  them  draw  the  boy  out,  place  him  on  a 
blanket,  and  hasten  up  the  hill ;  they  approached  her  house,  when 
the  Colonel  hastened  towards  her  saying,  "  We  came  near  losing 
our  child  !"  and  she  saw  it  was  indeed  her  own.  He  was  pale  as 
death,  but  soon  recovered,  and  lives  to  tell  the  story  of  an  immense 
catfish  dragging  him  into  the  river  while  fishing. 

In  1823,  news  was  brought  by  the  traders  that  two  white  chil- 


ABIGAIL   SNELLING.  329 

dren  were  with  a  party  of  Sioux,  on  the  St.  Peter's.  It  appeared 
from  what  they  could  learn,  that  a  family  from  Red  River — Selkirk's 
settlement — had  been  on  their  way  to  the  Fort,  when  a  war  party 
of  Sioux  met  them,  murdered  the  parents  and  an  infant,  and  made 
the  boys  prisoner.  Col.  Snelling  sent  an  officer  with  a  party  of  sol- 
diers to  rescue  the  children.  After  some  delay  in  the  ransom,  they 
were  finally  brought.  An  old  squaw,  who  had  the  youngest,  was 
very  unwilling  to  give  him  up,  and  indeed  the  child  did  not  wish 
to  leave  her.  The  oldest,  about  eight  years  old,  said  his  name  was 
John  Tully,  and  his  brother,  five  years  old,  Abraham.  His  mother 
had  an  infant,  but  he  saw  the  Indians  dash  its  brains  out  against  a 
tree,  then  kill  his  father  and  mother.  Because  he  cried,  they  took 
him  by  his  hair,  and  cut  a  small  piece  from  his  head,  which  was  a 
running  sore  when  he  was  re-taken.  Col.  Snelling  took  John 
into  his  family,  Major  Clark  the  other,  but  he  was  afterwards  sent 
to  an  orphan  asylum  in  New  York.  The  eldest  died  of  lockjaw, 
occasioned  by  a  cut  in  the  ankle  while  using  an  axe.  His  death- 
bed conversion  was  affecting  and  remarkable.  One  day,  after  he 
had  been  ill  several  weeks,  he  said,  "  Mrs.  Snelling,  I  have  been  a 
very  wicked  boy ;  I  once  tried  to  poison  my  father  because  he  said 
he  would  whip  me.  I  stole  a  ring  from  you,  which  you  valued 
much,  and  sold  it  to  a  soldier,  and  then  I  told  you  a  lie  about  it.  I 
have  given  you  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  I  have  bgen  very  wicked. 
I  am  going  to  die  the  day  after  to-morrow,  and  don't  know  where  I 
shall  go.  Oh,  pray  for  me." 

His  benefactress  answered,  "  John,  God  will  forgive  you,  if  you 
repent ;  but  you  must  pray,  too,  for  yourself.  God  is  more  willing 
to  hear  than  we  are  to  pray.  Christ  died  to  save  just  such  a  sinner 
as  you  are,  and  you  must  call  upon  that  Saviour  to  save  you."  All 
his  sins  appeared  to  rise  before  him  as  he  confessed  them,  and  he 
seemed  to  feel  that  he  was  too  great  a  sinner  to  hope  for  pardon. 
Mrs.  Snelling  read  to  him,  and  instructed  him.  He  never  had  re- 
ceived any  religious  instruction,  except  in  the  Sunday  school  taught 
by  Mi's.  Clark  and  herself,  and  being  accustomed  to  say  his  prayers 
with  her  children,  and  always  to  be  present  when  she  read  the 


330  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

church  service  on  Sundays.  The  next  morning  after  the  above  con- 
versation, when  she  asked  him  how  he  had  rested  during  the  night, 
he  said,  "  I  prayed  very  often  in  the  night ;  I  shall  die  to-morrow, 
and  I  know  not  what  will  become  of  me."  For  several  hours  he 
remained  tranquil,  with  his  eyes  closed,  but  would  answer  whenever 
spoken  to ;  then  suddenly  he  exclaimed,  "  Glory  !  glory  P  His 
friend  said,  "  John,  what  do  you  mean  by  that  word  ?"  "  Oh  ! 
Mrs.  Snelling,  I  feel  so  good — I  feel  so  good  !  Oh  !  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  good  I  feel."  She  knew  not  that  he  ever  heard  that  word 
unless  from  her  prayer-book.  He  lost  all  consciousness  on  the  day 
he  said  he  should  die,  and  expired  at  the  succeeding  dawn. 

During  this  year  the  commandant  was  visited  by  Gen.  Scott  anc. 
suite,  and  the  fort  was  completed.  Heretofore  it  had  been  called 
Fort  St.  Anthony,  but  Gen.  Scott  issued  an  order  giving  it  the  name 
of  Fort  Snelling.  He  expressed  his  approbation  of  the  construction 
and  site  of  the  fort,  etc.,  spent  a  week  with  his  friends,  and  visited 
the  falls  and  a  chain  of  lakes  where  they  were  used  to  amuse  them- 
selves fishing,  and  where  the  water  was  so  clear  they  could  see  the 
fish  playing  about  the  hook.  One  of  the  lakes  Mrs.  Snelling  named 
Scott  Lake. 

Another  of  her  amusements  was  riding  on  horseback.  When  a 
child  she  had  been  accustomed  to  ride  every  morning  with  her 
father,  and  acquired  great  confidence  in  the  management  of  a  horse. 
Her  husband  seldom  would  ride  with  her,  but  Capt.  Martin  Scott 
was  in  the  regiment,  and  often  accompanied  her.  One  day  they 
saw  a  wolf;  the  dogs  gave  chase,  and  they  followed  until  they  ran 
down  the  poor  creature,  the  bonnet  of  the  fair  huntress  having 
fallen  back,  and  her  hair  streaming  loose  in  the  wind. 

In  1825,  the  family  left  Fort  Snelling  to  visit  their  friends  in 
Detroit.  It  was  late  in  the  season,  October,  before  they  set  out 
homeward,  by  the  way  of  Green  Bay,  where  Mrs.  Snelling's  brother, 
Lieut.  Wellington  Hunt,  was  stationed.  They  spent  a  week  in  his 
family,  and  when  they  reached  Lake  Pepin  the  ice  was  running  so 
rapidly  they  were  compelled  to  stop  ;  the  ice  had  cut  through  the 
cabin  so  that  it  leaked.  A  small  log  cabin  was  put  up,  and  an 


ABIGAIL   SPELLING.  331 

express  sent  to  the  fort,  one  hundred  miles,  for  sleighs  to  convey 
them  thither,  and  provisions,  as  they  had  nothing  but  corn,  which 
they  boiled  in  ash-water  with  a  little  salt.  Fears  were  entertained 
by  Coh  Snelling  that  the  express  might  not  reach  the  fort,  and 
another  was  sent  a  week  after.  One  day,  after  two  weeks,  there  was 
'  a  sound  of  sleigh  bells,  and  Henry,  who  was  the  first  to  hear,  ran  to 
meet  them,  and  soon  returned  with  two  loaves  of  bread,  which  he 
threw  into  his  mother's  lap,  crying,  "  eat,  mother,  eat."  The  child- 
ren ate  bread  as  if  famished,  and  even  the  little  Marion,  but  eight 
months  old,  partook  of  the  general  joy.  They  had  seen  no  Indians, 
who  had  all  gone  to  their  winter  grounds.  Some  of  the  officers 
came  to  meet  the  Colonel's  family,  and  they  were  soon  on  the  move 
again.  They  were  welcomed  back  joyfully  by  all  their  friends,  and 
many  of  their  favorite  Indians  came  to  see  them.  One  poor  savage, 
who  always  furnished  them  with  game,  came  leaning  on  his  staff,  look- 
ing pale  and  emaciated ;  he  was  very  sick,  he  said,  and  came  to  see 
them  once  more  before  he  died.  He  could  scarcely  crawl  back  to  his 
lodge,  and  the  next  day  expired. 

At  this  time  a  party  of  the  Chippewas  and  Sioux  held  a  council  with 
the  Indian  agent.  There  had  been  war  between  the  two  nations  for 
a  long  time ;  the  agent  desired  to  act  as  mediator  between  them,  and 
sent  for  them  to  meet  him.  After  the  council  the  two  parties  smoked 
the  pipe  of  peace.  The  Chippewas  killed  a  dog,  made  a  feast,  and 
invited  the  Sioux  to  their  lodges,  which  were  under  the  guns  of  the 
fort.  In  the  evening,  about  nine  o'clock,  the  firing  of  guns  was 
heard ;  the  sentinel  called  "  corporal  of  the  guard"  repeatedly,  in 
quick  succession.  The  wild  cries  of  women  and  children  were  heard, 
for  the  Chippewas  had  their  families  with  them,  and  several  Indians 
came  rushing  into  the  hall  of  the  commanding  officer,  trying  to  tell 
what  was  the  matter.  The  officer  of  the  day  reported  that  the 
Sioux,  after  partaking  of  the  hospitalities  of  the  Chippewas,  and 
being  apparently  good  friends,  had  some  of  them  returned,  placed 
their  guns  under  the  wigwams,  and  fired,  killing  some  and  wound- 
ing others.  The  wounded  were  conveyed  into  the  hospital  to  have 
their  wounds  dressed.  Other  particulars  of  this  occurrence,  with 


332  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

the  determination  of  the  Chippewas  to  have  vengeance,  the  action 
of  the  commanding  officer,  and  the  surrender  and  punishment  of 
the  perpetrators  of  the  deed,  are  related  in  another  memoir.  The 
traders  said  the  Sioux  were  perfectly  satisfied,  much  more  so  than 
if  the  offenders  had  been  imprisoned  and  sent  to  St.  Louis. 

In  1826,  Capt.  Thomas  Hunt,  who  was  residing  at  Washington, 
wrote  to  his  sister,  urging  her  and  the  Colonel  to  send  their  two 
eldest  children  to  him  to  be  educated.  Their  daughter  Mary  was 
now  fourteen,  and  as  Capt.  Plympton  and  his  wife  were  going,  her 
parents  got  her  in  readiness  to  accompany  them.  Her  mother 
thought  not  it  would  cost  so  many  tears  to  part  with  her  child  ; 
but  when  she  returned  home  from  the  boat,  she  told  Mrs.  Clark  it 
"  seemed  like  a  death  in  the  family."  Soon  an  opportunity  offered, 
and  they  sent  Henry  also. 

In  1827  the  Indians  began  to  show  signs  of  hostility  near  Prairie 
du  Chi  en ;  they  murdered  two  white  men  and  a  young  girl,  the 
daughter  of  one  of  them,  and  attacked  two  boats  with  supplies  for 
Fort  Snelling,  killing  and  wounding  several  of  the  crew.  Col.  Snel- 
ling  ordered  out  as  many  of  his  command  as  could  be  spared  from 
the  fort,  and  with  his  officers  descended  the  river  to  the  relief  of 
Fort  Crawford,  or  to  attack  any  hostile  force  of  Indians  he  might 
meet.  There  were  two  large  villages  of  Indians  between  the  two 
forts,  and  it  was  expected,  when  they  approached,  they  would  be 
attacked,  but  there  was  not  an  Indian  to  be  seen.  When  they 
reached  Prairie  du  Chien,  they  ascertained  that  the  outrage  had 
been  committed  by  Winnebagoes  and  not  Sioux.  When  Gen.  Atkin- 
son heard  this  at  St.  Louis,  he  sent  and  seized  the  chief,  Red  Bird, 
and  one  or  two  others,  who  were  tried,  convicted,  and  executed. 
After  an  absence  of  six  weeks,  the  party  returned  without  being 
obliged  to  fire  a  gun. 

One  day  soon  after  his  return,  the  Colonel  came  in  to  tell  his  wife 
the  express  had  brought  them  a  mail,  holding  in  his  hand  a  letter 
sealed  with  black.  She  exclaimed,  "  My  Mary  is  dead."  "  No," 
said  her  husband,  "  the  letter  is  from  Detroit."  It  brought  the  intel- 
ligence of  her  much  loved  brother  Henry's  death.  He  was  much 


ABIGAIL    SNELLING.  333 

loved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him ;  was  major  of  the  city 
and  colonel  of  the  militia,  arid  his  funeral  was  the  largest  ever  known 
in  Michigan.  After  the  massacre  at  Frenchtown  by  the  Indians, 
in  1813,  he  had  spent  a  great  deal  of  money  in  ransoming  prisoners, 
many  of  whom  still  affectionately  cherish  his  memory.  He  had 
proved  a  father  to  his  sister  and  family  ,^and  was  mourned'  by  them 
deeply  and  long. 

In  the  fall  of  1827,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks. When  the  family  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  they  took  lodgings 
for  the  winter,  Colonel  Sn  el  ling  having  obtained  leave  to  go  to 
Washington  to  settle  some  public  accounts  and  to  bring  home  his 
daughter.  He  wrote  to  her  mother  in  glowing  terms  of  her 
improvement  in  person  and  mind,  and  that  she  received  much 
attention  for  one  of  her  age,  not  yet  sixteen.  "  As  Mary  will  not 
again,"  he  concluded,  "  have  so  good  an  opportunity,  I  have  encou- 
raged her  to  accept  invitations  to  the  different  soirees  ;.  she  has  had 
cards  for  the  season  from  all."  Mary  wrote,  "  I  have  attended  many 
parties,  but  I  do  not  enjoy  them,  for  my  dear  mother  is  not  with  me, 
and  I  am  so  impatient  to  embrace  her."  Alas  !  the  All  Wise  Dis- 
poser of  events  had  ordered  it  otherwise.  One  more  letter  her 
mother  received  from  her,  and  hoped  before  many  weeks  to  see 
her,  but  at  the  time  she  was  expecting  her  arrival,  a  letter  was 
written  to  her  sister,  Mrs.  Soulard,  that  Mary  was  dead  ! 

Col.  Snelling  wrote  afterwards,  that  on  the  2d  of  February  she 
had  been  at  Mrs.  Clay's  party  and  danced,  and  had  taken  cold 
while  standing  to  wait  for  the  carriage ;  the  cold  terminating  in  a 
brain  fever.  Mrs.  Adams,  the  wife  of  the  President,  showed  great 
interest  in  the  young  stranger,  as  did  mciny  others,  and  every  atten- 
tion was  paid  her  that  could  be  desired ;  but  there  was  no  solace  for 
the  deep  wound  in  the  mother's  heart.  Sh^  had  felt  a  presentiment 
that  she  should  never  more  see  her  daughter,  and  was  in  some  mea- 
sure prepared  for  the  stroke  which  almost  crushed  her :  she  was 
enabled  to  look  with  faith  to  Him  from  whose  hand  it  came,  to  feel 
that  He  was  too  wise  to  err — too  good  to  afflict  willingly,  and  to 


334:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

bow  in  humble  submission  to  the  most  painful  dispensation  of  his 
Providence.  Her  husband  wrote  that  he  should  be  obliged  to 
remain  still  longer  in  Washington  ;  it  would  improve  her  health  to 
travel,  and  she  must  join  him  without  delay.  In  May  she  left  St. 
Louis  with  her  three  children  and  nurse,  found  her  husband  and  son 
well,  the  latter  much  grown,  and  received  a  cordial  welcome  from 
her  brother  and  sister-in-law. 

Her  cup  of  affliction  was  not  yet  full ;  in  two  months  her  husband 
was  seized  with  inflammation  of  the  brain  and  died  in  three  weeks. 
In  communicating  the  sad  event  to  the  army,  the  General-in-Chief 
thought  it  but  an  act  of  justice  to  make  a  public  acknowledgment 
of  his  services.* 

At  this  period  of  distress  Mrs.  Snelling's  youngest  child,  Josiah, 
was  not  expected  to  live.  She  resigned  him  willingly  ;  but  he  was 
spared  to  her,  and  lived  to  be  her  great  comfort.  In  a  month  she 
was  on  her  way  to  Detroit.  A  farm  three  miles  up  the  river  belonged 
to  her,  and  thither  she  took  her  children.  Her  brother,  George 
Hunt,  took  charge  of  the  farm  and  lived  in  her  family.  After  resid- 
ing two  years  upon  it,  Mrs.  Snelling  found  it  necessary  to  re- 
move into  the  city,  where  she  took  a  few  boarders,  and  rented  her 
farm.  In  1835  she  sold  it  for  nine  thousand  dollars,  purchased  a 
lot  in  the  city  and  built  a  brick  house.  Her  son  Henry,  who  had 
gone  to  New  York  on  business,  became  acquainted  with  Miss  Put- 
nam, the  sister  of  the  publisher,  a  lady  of  high  literary  ability  and 
intelligence,  and  they  were  soon  afterwards  married.  Capt. 
Thomas  Hunt  was  at  this  time  residing  in  Detroit.  He  died  very 
suddenly  in  consequence  of  a  fall,  leaving  a  very  interesting  family. 
Gov.  Mason  offered  Mrs.  Snelling  a  high  rent  for  her  house,  and  she 
consented  to  let  it,  provided  he  would  purchase  her  new  furniture, 
which  he  did.  She  then  accepted  an  invitation  from  her  brother, 

#  u  Colonel  Snelling  joined  the  army  i.i  early  youth.  In  the  battle  of  Tip- 
pecanoe,  he  was  distinguished  for  gallantry  and  good  conduct.  Subsequently 
and  during  the  whole  of  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  from  the  battle  of 
Brownstown  to  the  termination  of  the  contest,  he  was  actively  employed  in 
the  field,  with  credit  to  himself  and  honor  to  his  country. — Letter  written  by 
order  of  Major- General  Macomb,  dated  jiugust  21stt  1828. 


ABIGAIL   SNELLING.  335 

Gen.  Hunt,  at  Maumee  city,  to  reside  in  his  family,  having  now  only 
her  daughter  Marion  (afterwards  Mrs.  Hazard)  and  her  youngest 
son  with  her.  Her  son  James  had  gone  to  West  Point. 

In  1841  Mrs.  Snelling  was  married  to  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Chaplin,  the 
grandson  of  President  Edwards.  He  was  appointed  principal  to  one 
of  the  branches  of  the  Michigan  State  Institution,  and  they  removed 
to  White  Pigeon  in  Michigan,  where  Mr.  Chaplin  died  in  1846, 
much  beloved  and  lamented.  For  five  years  his  wife  had  lived  with 
him  in  great  happiness,  and  she  felt  that  he  had  only  gone  home  a 
little  before  her. 

In  1844  her  son  James  graduated,  and  was  ordered  to  Texas  in 
Gen.  Worth's  regiment.  He  was  at  the  battle  of  Palo  Alto  and 
Reseca,  in  all  the  battles  with  Gen.  Taylor  excepting  Buena  Vista. 
At  that  time  Gen.  Worth's  regiment  was  with  Gen.  Scott's  division. 
He  was  at  the  siege  of  Yera  Cruz  and  Cherubusco,  at  which  time 
Gen.  Scott  mentions  him  in  his  dispatches.  At  Molino  del  Rey  he  was 
severely  wounded ;  the  ball  entering  the  left  breast  passed  under 
his  arm,  and  was  cut  out  from  his  back.  He  received  two  brevets, 
making  him  passed  captain.  Although  his  father  had  been  in  eleven 
skirmishes  and  battles  he  had  never  lost  a  drop  of  blood,  but  the 
son  was  less  fortunate,  and  at  twenty-three  nearly  lost  his  life.  It 
was  six  weeks  after  seeing  his  name  published  among  those  who 
were  severely  wounded  before  his  mother  heard  from  him  direct, 
and  during  that  time,  her  state  of  suspense  was  terrible.  One  day 
as  she  left  home  for  a  walk,  she  noticed  the  stage  approaching  her 
house,  and  as  it  was  passing,  Mr.  Hazard  put  his  head  out  and  said, 
"  You  had  better  go  back,  there  is  some  one  here  you  would  like  to 
see."  She  turned  to  go  back,  saw  the  stage  stop,  and  her  son  get 
out,  and  sank  on  her  knees  returning  thanks  to  God  that  her  eyes 
again  beheld  him.  He  afterwards  went  to  Texas  with  his  regi- 
ment. 

In  1849  Mrs.  Chaplin  travelled  with  her  nephew,  Major  Hunt, 
and  her  two  nieces  up  the  Mississippi  to  Fort  Snelling.  She  found 
twenty-one  years  had  made  great  changes  and  great  improvements  ; 
the  party  went  in  a  splendid  steamboat,  beautifully  furnished,  with 


336  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

table  sumptuously  supplied,  and  either  side  of  the  river  was  dotted 
with  cultivated  fields  and  large  towns — the  transformation  seemed 
almost  magical.  When  they  arrived  at  the  Fort,  she  met  an  old 
friend  in  Col.  Loomis,  who  was  very  polite  in  taking  her  about  the 
country  that  she  might  see  all  she  could  in  the  short  time  they  had 
to  stay.  She  visited  the  grave  of  her  little  daughter,  and  could  de- 
cipher the  name  on  the  stone  although  much  defaced.  The  Colonel 
promised  to  have  a  new  one  put  up.  An  old  Indian  woman  recog- 
nized her,  saying  she  had  seen  her  a  long  time  ago,  and  she  was  much 
delighted  to  find  she  had  been  remembered.  She  also  went  over 
the  house  so  long  occupied  by  her  family.  On  their  return  they 
stopped  at  St.  Paul's,  where  the  governor  of  the  territory  resides, 
and  there  found  a  niece  who  had  married  Mr.  Welsh  of  Michigan. 

One  of  the  passengers  taken  in  at  that  place,  in  conversation  with 
one  of  the  ladies,  related  the  story  of  the  murdei  of  the  Chippewas 
by  the  Sioux  after  the  treaty,  and  the  punishment  of  the  guilty  per- 
sons, with  some  fanciful  embellishment,  by  way  of  exemplifying  the 
Indian  traits  of  generosity  and  self-devotion,  stating  that  the  friend 
of  one  of  the  culprits  had  offered  himself  a  voluntary  victim  in  his 
place,  the  other  being  a  married  man,  and  that  the  innocent  substi- 
tute had  been  delivered  up  to  the  Chippewas  by  the  commanding 
officer.  His  strictures  on  the  conduct  of  Col.  Snelling  were  inter- 
rupted by  a  mild  rebuke  from  Mrs.  Chaplin,  who  informed  him  the 
account  he  had  given  of  the  transaction  was  incorrect.  "  You  seem 
to  speak  knowingly  on  the  subject,  madam,"  said  the  stranger.  "  I 
should  be  happy  to  get  the  right  story.  "  I  was  the  wife  of  that 
commanding  officer,"  she  replied,  "  and  remember  well  all  the  cir- 
cumstances ;"  which  she  then  related,  and  was  told  by  the  gentle- 
man that  he  was  writing  a  book,  "  and  had  received  the  story  from 
a  trader."  His  experience  in  this  instance  might  be  a  lesson  to 
those  who  rely  on  floating  traditions  unsupported  by  competent 
authority. 

Mrs.  Chaplin  is  now  happily  at  home  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Hazard,  and  resides  in  Cincinnati.  Her  life  has  been  a  chequered  and 
eventful  one,  and  many  sorrows  have  fallen  to  her  lot ;  but  these  have 


ABIGAIL   SNELLING.  337 

been  borne  with  resignation  and  submission  to  the  will  of  her 
Heavenly  Father,  to  whose  guidance  she  committed  her  youth,  and 
who  has  blessed  her  with  the  enjoyment  of  the  peace  and  prosperity 
won  through  a  period  of  hardship  and  distress.  Her  family  con- 
nections are  numerous,  and  a  very  large  circle  of  friends  and 
acquaintances  admire  her  talents  and  love  her  virtues. 


XIX. 

MARY  MCMILLAN. 

LANMAN,  the  author  of  a  pleasing  History  of  Michigan,  says  it 
embraces  three  epochs  ;  the  first  a  romantic  one,  extending  to  17 60, 
when  the  dominion  over  the  small  portion  of  inhabited  territory 
passed  from  France  to  Great  Britain.  "The  earliest  gleam  of  civili- 
zation at  that  period  had  scarcely  penetrated  its  forests,  and  the 
boat-songs  of  the  French  fur  traders,  as  they  swept  its  lakes,  alone 
awoke  the  echoes.  The  second  epoch  may  be  called  a  military  one. 
It  commenced  with  the  Pontiac  war,  and  extends  through  the 
struggles  of  the  British,  Indians,  and  Americans  to  obtain  undis- 
puted possession  of  the  country  ;  terminating  with  the  victory  of 
Commodore  Perry,  the  defeat  of  Proctor,  etc.  The  third  and  last 
period  comprises  the  enterprising,  mechanical,  and  working  age  of 
Michigan,  commencing  with  the  introduction  of  the  public  lands 
into  market ;  it  is  the  epoch  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  com- 
merce ;  the  day  of  harbors,  cities,  canals,  and  railroads,  in  which 
forests  have  been  surveyed  and  cleared,  streams  and  lakes  cov- 
ered with  sails,  States  founded,  and  their  internal  resources  de- 
veloped. 

A  few  small  settlements  were  made  along  the  lakes  at  a  very 
early  period.  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  like  the  other  French  posts,  had  a 
fort  and  chapel  in  1688,  and  was  a  favorite  resort  for  traders  and 


MAKY  MCMILLAN.  339 

savages  on  their  way  to  the  forests  of  Lake  Superior,  its  settlers  be- 
ing a  few  Indians,  called  the  Salteurs,  who  lived  by  fishing  in  the 
rapids.  A  goldsmith,  who  went  there  afterwards,  wrought  from 
the  pure  copper  found  in  that  region,  bracelets,  candlesticks,  crosses, 
and  censers,  for  sale  among  the  savages.  From  time  to  time- 
Jesuit  missionaries  were  sent  from  Quebec  and  Montreal  to.  these 
distant  posts,  but  they  remained  without  any  organized  colonial 
government,  or  any  connected  history,  forming  a  part  of  the  Cana- 
dian domain,  inhabited  only  by  wandering  Indians  or  migrating 
traders,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Montreal  or  Quebec.  The 
vast  tracts  extending  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi,  fer- 
tile, and  watered  by  noble  streams,  with  inland  seas  offering  facili- 
ties for  commerce,  were  thus  wandered  over  by  herds  of  deer,  elk, 
and  buffalo,  or  tribes  as  wild  as  the  beasts  of  the  forest. 

Baron  La  Hontan,  who  came  at  a  very  early  period,  says,  describ- 
ing Lake  Erie,  "  It  is  assuredly  the  finest  on  earth  ;  its  banks 
decked  with  oak  trees,  elms,  and  chestnuts,  entwined  with  vines 
bearing  rich  clusters  to  their  tops,  and  its  forests  abounding  with 
turkeys,  deer,  and  wild  beeves,  frequented  too  by  warlike  hunters." 
The  French  scattered  along  the  lake  border,  were  there  for  the  pur- 
pose of  pushing  the  fur  trade  into  the  Indian  territory,  and  except 
the  commandants  at  the  posts,  were  chiefly  merchants  engaged  in 
this  traffic.  The  coureurs  des  bois,  or  rangers  of  the  woods,  were 
often  half-breeds,  and  were  hardy  and  skilled  in  propelling  the 
canoe,  fishing,  hunting,  or  sending  a  rifle-ball  to  the  "  right  eye"  of 
the  buffalo.  They  procured  cargoes  of  furs  from  the  Indians,  and 
carried  large  packs  of  goods  across  portages  in  the  interior,  by 
straps  suspended  from  their  foreheads  or  shoulders.  They  were 
familiar  with  every  rock  and  island,  bay  and  shoal,  of  the  western 
waters.  The  ordinary  dress  of  a  Canadian  furtrader,  was  a  cloth 
fastened  about  the  middle,  a  loose  shirt,  a  "  molton"  .or  blanket-coat, 
a  red  worsted  or  leathern  cap,  and  sometimes  a  surtout  of  coarse 
blue  cloth,  and  cap  of  the  same  material ;  elk-skin  trowsers,  with 
seams  adorned  with  fringe  ;  a  scarlet  woollen  sash  tied  round  the 
waist,  in  which  a  broad  hunting-knife  was  stuck,  and  buck-skin 


340  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF  THE  WEST. 

moccasins.  In  later  years  they  wore  a  shirt  of  striped  cotton, 
trowsers  of  cloth  or  leather,  leggins  like  the  Indians,  deer-skin 
moccasins,  colored  belt  of  worsted,  with  knife  and  tobacco-pouch, 
and  blue  woollen  cap  with  red  feather.  The  half-breeds  were  demi- 
savage,  and  were  employed  as  guides  or  rangers,  to  manage  the 
canoes  in  remote  trading  excursions.  European  goods  were  ex- 
changed for  peltries,  which  were  taken  to  the  depots  on  the  lakes, 
and  thence  transported  eastward.  The  individuals  who  devoted 
their  attention  to  agriculture  usually  wore  a  long  surtout  and  sash, 
with  red  cap  and  deer-skin  moccasins,  while  the  gentlemen  visiting 
the  country  preserved  the  garb  in  vogue  in  the  days  of  Louis  XIV. 
Agriculture  was  then  limited  to  a  few  patches  of  corn  and  wheat, 
the  grain  being  ground  in  wind-mills.  The  French  soldiers,  with 
their  blue  coats  turned  up  with  white  facings,  and  short-clothes,  and 
the  priests  with  their  long  gowns  and  black  bands,  who  had  their 
stations  near  the  forts,  formed  a  strong  contrast  in  their  appearance 
to  the  Indians  who  loitered  around  the  posts.* 

The  women  made  coarse  cotton  and  woollen  garments  for  the  In- 
dian traders.  The  amusements  were  chiefly  dancing  to  the  violin, 
and  hunting  in  the  forests  ;  to  which  may  be  added  the  observance 
of  the  festivals  enjoined  by  the  church.  Fishing  was  a  constant  oc- 
cupation ;  canoes  passed  in  every  direction  over  the  streams  and 
bays,  and  the  varieties  of  fish  now  esteemed  so  delicious,  were  taken 
in  great  abundance,  and  formed  a  principal  article  of  food.  The 
social  condition  of  these  primitive  inhabitants  was  not  as  civilized  as 
in  the  larger  colonial  settlements ;  the  humble  emigrants  went  out 
with  their  tents,  their  axes,  their  hoes,  their  stores  of  ammunition 
and  provisions,  and  their  cattle,  to  win  a  subsistence  by  hard  labor, 
and  had  little  regard  to  the  amenities  which  are  the  growth  of  a 
settled  community.  The  priests  had  much  influence,  and  frequently 
was  the  lonely  altar,  with  its  rude  candlesticks  and  censers  carved 
from  native  copper,  erected  under  the  forest  boughs,  surrounded  by 
savages  in  the  wild  costume  of  their  tribes,  deer  or  buffalo  skins, 
with  the  cincture  of  the  war  eagle  on  their  heads,  their  necklaces 

#  Lamnan's  History, 


MATCY  MCMILLAN.  34-1 

of  bear's  claws,  and  moccasins  embroidered  with  porcupine's  quills. 
The  solemn  chant  went  up  amidst  the  distant  howling  of  wild  beasts, 
and  the  solitary  bark  chapels,  adorned  by  no  sculptured  marble  or 
golden  lamps,  but  surmounted  by  the  rudely  framed  cross,  looked 
out  on  a  domain  of  prairie,  lake,  and  unbroken  forest ;  yet  was  the 
wealth  of  art  surpassed : 

"  Iris  all  hues ;  roses  and  jessamines  j 

Reared  high  their  flourished  heads  between,  and  wrought 

Mosaic ;  under  foot  the  violet, 

Crocus,  and  hyacinth,  with  rich  inlay, 

Broidered  the  ground,  more  colored  than  with  stones 

Of  costliest  emblem." 

A  volume  might  be  written  upon  the  Indian  mythology  of  the 
lakes.  Each  rock,  island,  lake,  river,  wood  and  cataract  along  the 
shores  of  Michigan,  had  its  presiding  genius,  good  or  evil ;  legends 
peopled  the  earth  and  air,  spirits  floated  through  the  forests  and 
danced  along  the  streams ;  manitous  of  darkness  performed  their 
orgies  in  the  storms,  and  the  islands  abounded  with  golden  sands 
watched  like  the  fleece  of  old,  by  serpents,  birds  of  prey,  and  mighty 
giants.  To  these,  sacrifices  of  tobacco  pipes  and  other  offerings  were 
continually  presented.  In  1721,  Charlevoix  was  informed  that 
Michabout  was  the  manitou  of  the  lakes,  and  the  island  of  Michili- 
mackinac  his  birth-place.  The  name  of  this  island  signifies  "  a  great 
turtle,"  from  its  resemblance  to  one,  or  in  the  Chippewa  speech, 
"  the  place  of  giant  fairies."  This  deity,  it  is  said,  created  Lake  Su- 
perior that  his  Indians  might  catch  beaver ;  and  the  savages  believe 
the  fragments  of  rock  at  the  Sault  and  other  rapids  are  remains  of 
the  causeway  constructed  by  him  to  dam  up  the  waters. 

The  social  condition  of  the  settlers  of  Michigan  was  not  much 
improved  by  the  transfer  of  the  country  from  the  French  to  the 
British  government.  By  the  capitulation  of  Montreal,  the  French 
subjects  were  permitted  to  remain,  and  the  fur  trade  was  prosecuted 
by  their  agency  under  English  companies.  Till  1762  the  peninsula 
remained  quiet,  while  war  raged  at  a  distance ;  but  the  war  of  the 
Pontiac  confederacy  soon  carried  disturbance  to  its  borders.  The 


342  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

details  of  this  period  belong  to  history.  It  is  proper  merely  to  men- 
tion the  plot  by  which  this  famous  Indian  chief  aimed  to  destroy 
the  fort  of  Detroit.  He  had  ordered  his  Indians  to  saw  off  their 
rifles,  conceal  them  under  their  blankets,  and  gain  admission  to  the 
fort  under  pretence  of  holding  a  peaceable  council.  On  a  signal 
given  by  his  delivering  a  belt  of  wampum  in  a  specified  manner,  the 
savages  were  to  rush  on  the  soldiers,  and  fling  open  the  gates  to  the 
body  of  warriors  on  the  outside.  Word  was  then  sent  to  Major 
Gladwyn  that  Pontiac  would  hold  a  council  with  the  English  com- 
mander on  the  9th  of  May,  1763.  The  evening  before,  an  Indian 
woman  employed  by  the  Major  to  make  some  elk-skin  moccasins, 
brought  them  to  the  fort.  Gladwyn,  pleased  with  her  work,  bespoke 
more,  and  having  paid  her  for  the  first,  sent  a  servant  to  see  her 
safely  through  the  gates.  Here  she  lingered,  looking  wistfully  at 
the  river,  and  her  behavior  appearing  singular,  the  servant  asked 
the  cause  of  her  delay,  but  received  no  answer.  The  commanding 
officer  then  called  her  in,  and  asked  why  she  hesitated,  when,  calling 
to  mind  his  former  kindness,  the  woman  said  she  would  not  take 
away  the  skin,  as  she  would  not  be  able  to  bring  it  back.  This  re- 
mark exciting  suspicion,  she  was  induced  by  promises  of  safety  and 
reward,  to  reveal  the  whole  plot.  The  officers  *  thought  it  a  trick, 
but  the  night  was  spent  in  preparation  ;  guards  were  placed  on  the 
ramparts,  and  every  man  was  ready  for  defence.  Their  suspicions 
were  confirmed  by  the  distant  sounds  heard  of  the  war-songs  and 
dances  of  the  Indians.  In  the  morning  Pontiac  came  with  his 
chiefs  and  braves  to  the  council-house,  and  was  received  by  the 
Major  and  officers.  The  appearance  of  warlike  preparation  could 
not  escape  the  Indians,  and  when  they  were  seated  on  the  skins, 
Pontiac  asked  the  cause,  which  he  was  told  was  the  necessity  of 
military  discipline.  He  professed  much  friendship  for  the  English 
in  his  speech,  but  his  gestures  became  violent  as  he  approached  the 
point  when  he  was  to  give  the  concerted  signal.  The  officers  drew 
their  swords,  the  soldiers  at  the  doors  clattered  their  arms,  and  as 
the  chief  presented  the  belt  in  his  usual  manner,  thus  failing  to  give 
the  signal,  the  Major  accused  him  of  being  a  traitor,  and  pulling 


MARY    MCMILLAN.  343 

aside  his  blanket  showed  his  rifle.  The  Indians  were  ordered  to 
quit  the  fort  instantly,  being  assured  of  safety  beyond  the  pickets, 
and  were  received  by  the  warriors  without  with  yells  and  firing,  and 
other  demonstrations  of  hostility  towards  the  garrison,  the  more 
fierce  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the  enterprise. 

During  the  Revolutionary  struggle  the  peninsula  remained  in  com- 
parative quiet.  Although  constituting  a  part  of  the  Canadian  terri- 
tory, a  magazine  of  arms  for  the  savage  allies  of  the  loyalists,  and  a 
mart  where  soalps  were  bought  and  sold,  it  can  boast  no  prominent 
events  to  give  interest  to  its  history,  because  not  made  the  theatre 
of  action.  A  mere  outpost  of  Canada,  it  was  a  magnificent  extent 
of  wilderness,  in  which  the  axe  had  scarcely  felled  a  tree  ;  trackless, 
save  where  Indian  trails  wound  through  the  dense  forests  and 
flowery  oaklands ;  unbroken,  except  by  scattered  Indian  villages 
and  corn-fields  studding  the  prairies,  or  the  solitary  posts  of  fur 
traders.  The  treaty  of  1783  included  the  peninsula  within  the 
bounds  of  American  territory.  At  this  time  its  sparse  white  popu- 
lation consisted  chiefly  of  French  and  English,  whose  settlements 
were  confined  to  the  vicinity  of  trading  posts  along  the  lakes  and 
the  banks  of  the  principal  rivers.  When  the  ravages  of  the  savage 
tribes  on  the  frontier  were  terminated  by  the  victories  of  Gen.Wayne 
and  the  treaty  in  1795,  the  tide  of  emigration  began  to  flow  more 
steadily  westward.  Michigan  was  erected  into  a  separate  territory 
in  1805,  but  the  progress  of  settlement  was  slow,  and  the  principal 
business  carried  on  was  still  the  fur  trade. 

In  1810  the  island  of  Mackinaw,  a  romantic  point,  rising  like  an 
altar  from  the  realm  of  waters,  was  the  central  mart  of  traffic,  and 
the  lakes  were  sprinkled  with  canoes  of  traders  and  Indians ;  the 
merry  Canadian  voyageur  bartering  his  trinkets  at  booths  scattered 
along  the  shores,  and  the  red  warrior  with  his  fantastic  ornaments, 
his  silver  armlets  and  embroidered  moccasins,  coming  to  exchange 
his  treasures,  or  on  fishing  and  hunting  excursions.  The  fur  mer- 
chants went  up  the  lakes  in  large  canoes,  manned  by  Canadians,  to 
meet  their  agents  returning  from  the  remote  wilderness  at  Fort 
William,  one  of  the  principal  pioneer  posts  of  the  northwest  country. 


344  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

The  council  house  was  a  large  wooden  building,  hung  with  trophies 
of  the  chase,  and  Indian  implements  of  war  or  peaceful  employment. 
Thus  the  romantic  aspect  of  the  country  had  not  yet  disappeared, 
though  the  post  was  crowded  with  traders,  and  the  epoch  of  mer- 
cantile enterprise  was  in  its  meridian.  The  semi-barbarous  dominion 
exercised  for  a  century  over  the  lakes  and  the  region  on  their  bor- 
ders, had  not  yet  been  swept  away  even  by  the  wings  of  commerce. 
The  war  of  1812  was  a  crisis  which  brought  renewed  devastations 
upon  the  frontier,  and  the  borders  were  overrun  by  the  British  and 
their  savage  allies.  Although,  by  act  of  Congress  in  May  of 
this  year,  two  millions  of  acres  were  ordered  to  be  surveyed,  little 
inducement  was  held  out  to  emigrants  to  penetrate  a  remote  wilder- 
ness, through  which  there  were  no  roads,  and  as  late  as  1820 
Detroit,  French  town,  Mackinaw,  and  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  were  the  chief 
settlements  within  the  present  limits  of  the  State.  When,  some 
time  afterwards,  expeditions  were  projected  for  exploring  the  coun- 
try, the  interior  was  yet  a  ranging  ground  for  savages  and  wild 
beasts,  intersected  by  Indian  trails,  with  here  and  there,  by  the  lakes 
or  streams,  a  few  clusters  of  log  houses,  or  the  huts  of  Frenchmen ; 
the  roads  constructed  in  1823  scarcely  passable  in  the  most  favorable 
season.  Gradually,  however,  the  forest  began  to  resound  with 
the  huntsman's  axe,  and  the  log  tenements  of  the  hardy  pioneers  to 
stud  the  wilderness.  The  social  progress  of  the  territory  was  not 
marked  by  any  stirring  events.  The  advance  of  emigration  along  its 
rivers  was  solitary  and  silent ;  the  cannon  and  bayonet  had  long  since 
given  place  to  the  plough  and  the  woodman's  axe,  and  the  subju- 
gation of  the  wild  forest  was  achieved  without  the  necessity  of  dis- 
puting possession  of  the  soil  with  human  foes.  The  emigrants  scat- 
tered themselves  by  degrees  over  the  interior,  finding  a  dry  and  fertile 
soil,  well  adapted  for  culture,  aud  a  country  rich  in  varied  and  pictu- 
resque scenery.  The  lake-like  and  rolling  prairies,  with  their  wooded 
islands  and  forest  borders,  were  beautiful  beyond  description  ;  the 
white  oak  openings  were  like  stately  parks  enamelled  with  flowers, 
and  the  burr-oak  groves  like  orchards  studded  with  large  pear  trees. 
The  mounds  ros6  from  thirty  or  forty  to  two  hundred  feet,  and  hill 


MARY   MCMILLAN.  34:5 

and  dale,  secluded  lake  and  forest  tract,  with  its  dense  growth  of 
beech,  black  walnut,  elm,  maple,  hickory,  oaks  of  different  kinds, 
etc.,  its  luxuriant  wild  grape  vines  and  rich  underwood,  presented 
scenes  that  might  well  captivate  the  new  comers.  One  by  one,  or 
in  small  numbers,  wagons  bearing  the  families  of  the  pioneers,  with 
their  furniture,  might  be  seen  winding  over  the  rough  roads  or 
along  the  shores  ;  then  smoke  rose  curling  through  the  woods  from 
the  prostrate  trunks  of  smouldering  trees ;  the  settler  having  cleared 
a  small  space,  built  his  log  house,  while  his  cattle  fed  on  the  luxu- 
riant herbage  in  the  vicinity ;  the  labors  of  the  plough  followed 
those  of  the  axe,  the  winter  was  weathered  through,  and  the  suc- 
ceeding year  saw  him  an  independent  freeholder,  with  a  market  at 
his  door  for  the  produce  of  his  farm. 

Mrs.  McMillan  was  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  eastern  portion 
of  Michigan.  Her  removal  with  husband  and  children  from  a  pop- 
ulous and  cultivated  region,  was  a  laborious  journey,  performed  in 
the  manner  above  mentioned,  in  a  small  wagon,  laden  with  a  few 
necessary  articles  of  comfort  for  their  new  home  ;  by  slow  and  toil- 
some stages — their  nights  being  passed  under  some  temporary  shel- 
ter, insufficiently  protected  from  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts,  and  sub- 
ject to  inconvenience  from  night  dews,  cold  winds,  and  troublesome 
insects.  Their  establishment  was  attended  with  the  same  circum- 
stances of  labor  and  hardship,  which  have  been  described  in  numer- 
ous other  cases.  We  pass  to  some  incidents  that  may  serve  to 
illustrate  the  times,  as  well  as  show  the  courage  and  energy  of  this 
strong-hearted  matron. 

In  1813  she  was  living  on  the  Canada  side,  in  a  small  house  on 
the  banks  of  the  Thames,  a  beautiful  little  river  whose  bright  waters 
were  often  skimmed  by  canoes  of  savages  intent  on  plunder  or 
slaughter,  the  shrill  war-whoop  often  resounding  from  the  depths  of 
the  woods.  McMillan  had  left  his  family  to  enter  into  active  mili- 
tary service,  and  their  home  was  two  miles  distant  from  the  nearest 
neighbor.  The  country  had  been  kept  in  a  continual  state  of  alarm 
by  marauding  parties  of  Indians,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  kill  and 
capture,  as  well  as  rob  the  defenceless  settlers.  Mrs.  McMillan  suf- 
15* 


346  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

fered  the  more  from  anxiety  at  this  critical  period,  as  in  the  absence 
of  her  husband  the  care  of  their  young  children  devolved  entirely 
upon  her,  and  her  sole  protection  was  her  own  prudence  and  energy. 
One  day  having  heard  rumors  of  the  approach  of  a  hostile  party, 
and  being  apprehensive  of  a  sudden  attack,  she  took  her  infant  and 
walked  to  the  nearest  house  in  search  of  information.  There  she 
was  startled -with  the  intelligence  that  savages  had  been  seen  in  the 
vicinity,  and  that  they  had  gone  in  the  direction  of  her  dwelling, 
where  they  would  probably  stop  during  the  day.  The  matron 
thought  of  the  little  ones  she  had  left  at  home  unprotected,  and  a 
sickening  terror  entered  her  heart.  She  stayed  to  hear  no  more, 
but  hastened  homeward,  bearing  in  her  arms  the  unconscious  babe 
who  might  now  be  all  that  remained  to  her.  As  she  came  near, 
her  eyes  were  eagerly  strained  for  a  sight  of  those  beloved  ones  who 
were  accustomed  to  run  to  meet  her ;  all  was  silence ;  and  when 
she  dashed  open  the  door  and  stood  within  the  dwelling,  a  scene  of 
desolation  met  her  view  I  Every  article  of  furniture  had  disappeared ; 
the  floor  was  dusty  with  the  track  of  footsteps,  and  not  one  of  her 
children  was  anywhere  on  the  premises. 

The  alarm  and  anguish  of.  the  mother  may  be  better  imagined 
than  described.  The  fatal  idea  had  flashed  at  once  on  her  mind, 
that  her  little  ones  had  been  either  murdered  or  carried  away  cap- 
tive by  the  merciless  Indians.  In  this  terrible  emergency  she  lost 
none  of  her  self-possession,  nor  her  usual  sagacity  of  judgment. 
The  savages  could  not  have  gone  far,  and  her  only  course  was  to 
cross  the  river  and  seek  aid  immediately.  But  there  was  no  canoe, 
nor  mode  of  conveyance ;  she  could  not  swim,  nor  could  she  leave 
her  helpless  infant  behind  her.  She  was  not  long  in  discovering  a 
way  to  overcome  the  difficulty.  Hastily  rolling  some  logs  into  the 
water,  she  placed  two  boards  across  them,  forming  a  kind  of  raft,  on 
which  she  stepped  cautiously,  carrying  her  babe,  managed  to  hold 
the  frail  craft  together  while  she  guided  its  course,  and  reached  the 
opposite  shore  in  safety.  Here  her  terror  and  anguish  were  sud- 
denly changed  into  joy  ;  the  children  had  heard  of  the  near  approach 
of  Indians  immediately  after  their  mother's  departure,  and  having 


MAKY  MCMILLAN. 

taken  the  precaution  to  put  the  furniture  in  the  cellar,  out  of  the 
intruders'  way,  they  had  crossed  the  river  to  seek  protection  from 
the  neighbors  on  the  other  side. 

On  another  occasion  Mrs.  McMillan  suffered  from  Indian  depreda- 
tion. A  large  party  from  the  different  tribes  was  on  the  way  to 
Toronto,  and  in  the  course  of  a  single  day  some  two  hundred  of 
them  stopped  at  her  house,  plundering  it  of  all  it  contained. 
McMillan  was  still  absent,  and  the  mother  did  not  dare  to 
interfere  for  the  rescue  of  any  portion  of  her  property,  lest  she 
should  draw  down  vengeance  upon  herself  and  her  innocent  chil- 
dren. The  work  of  spoiling  went  on,  therefore,  while  they  stood 
quietly  aloof.  A  fine  flock  of  geese,  which  she  had  raised  with 
care,  was  on  the  grass  before  the  door,  and  the  Indians  soon  com- 
menced execution  among  them.  Mrs.  McMillan  started  forward  to 
save  her  favorites ;  but  a  gun  was  instantly  levelled  at  her,  with  the 
threat  of  shooting,  if  she  ventured  to  interrupt  the  sport.  Like 
many  other  matrons  of  that  day,  she  prided  herself  on  a  handsome 
set  of  pewter  dishes  and  plates,  which  her  industrious  scouring  kept 
as  bright  as  silver.  Their  polish  and  beauty  pleased  the  Indians, 
who  tried  them  by  biting,  to  ascertain  if  they  were  real  silver,  and 
the  whole  stock  speedily  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  depreda- 
tors, who  left  only  a  knife  and  a  tin  cup  in  the  house.  When  the 
last  of  the  enemy  had  passed  over  the  river,  the  terrified  family 
found  themselves  in  safety,  but  exhausted  with  hunger,  while 
nothing  in  the  shape  of  food  was  left  about  the  place.  They  were 
compelled  to  fast  till  supplies  could  be  brought  from  a  distance  of 
several  miles. 

When  the  war  was  over,  and  comparative  (fuiet  established, 
McMillan  and  his  family,  with  two  or  three  others,  removed  to 
Detroit,  ascending  the  river  on  a  large  raft.  The  trials  of  the  wife 
were  not  ended.  Straggling  bands  of  savages  were  still  lurking  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  city,  ready  for  any  deed  of  robbery  or 
bloodshed.  One*  evening  when  McMillan  had  left  his  home  for  a 
short  time,  the  silence  was  broken  by  the  report  of  a  gun,  which 
caused  some  alarm  to  his  wife  and  children,  though  they  were  far 


348  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

from  anticipating  the  extent  of  their  calamity.  The  father's  pro- 
longed  absence  caused  apprehension,  which  was  terminated  by  fatal 
certainty;  during  the  night  his  lifeless  body  was  brought  home. 
This  blow  was  severely  felt  by  the  bereaved  wife,  but  a  sense  of 
duty  to  the  loved  ones  dependent  on  her,  prevented  her  from  being 
utterly  overwhelmed.  It  may  be  imagined,  after  this  sad  tragedy, 
how  anxiously  passed  the  nights  in  her  lonely  dwelling.  In  the 
middle  of  one  dark  night,  the  roar  of  the  alarm  guns  was  again 
heard.  The  affrighted  mother  sprang  up,  gathered  her  children 
hastily  together,  and  knowing  well  there  was  no  safety  within 
doors,  hurried  with  them  from  the  house.  The  house  of  a  friend 
at  a  considerable  distance,  offered  shelter,  but  the  darkness  was 
intense  ;  the  fugitives  lost  their  way,  and  ere  long  found  themselves 
in  the  midst  of  the  deep  mire  for  which  the  roads  of  Detroit  were 
formerly  so  celebrated.  More  urgent  peril,  however,  was  behind 
them ;  they  struggled  on,  leaving  their  shoes  in  the  mud,  and  man- 
aged to  escape  to  the  house  of  their  friend,  where  they  were  received 
with  kindness.  The  mother's  quick  eye,  scanning  her  rescued 
group,  now  discovered  that  her  son,  eleven  years  of  age,  was 
missing  !  The  alarm  was  given,  and  the  next  day  men  were  sent 
in  every  direction  about  the  country  to  search  for  him  ;  but  all  in- 
vain.  It  was  too  certain  that  he  had  been  captured,  and  the  dis- 
tracted mother  feared  he  had  been  murdered  by  the  relentless 
savages.  For  four  long  months  she  endured  the  tortures  of  sus- 
pense. She  then  learned  that  her  boy  had  been  taken  prisoner,  and 
was  still  held  in  captivity  at  some  distance  from  the  city.  The  sum 
demanded  for  his  ransom  was  speedily  sent,  and  he  was  restored  to 
the  arms  of  his  mother.  During  his  captivity  he  had  fared  hardly, 
subsisting  chiefly  on  buds  and  roots,  and  never  having  even  a  piece 
of  bread.  This  son  is  now  living  at  Jackson,  Michigan. 

After  the  termination  of  the  Indian  troubles,  Mrs.  McMillan 
maintained  her  family  by  her  exertions,  giving  each  of  her  children 
a  substantial  education,  with  such  training  as  to  fit  them  for  every 
duty  and  vicissitude  of  life.  She  made  enough  to  purchase  a  valu- 
able piece  of  land  near  the  Presbyterian  church,  with  a  large  framed 


MART  MCMILLAN.  349 

house,  which  is  now  known  as  the  Temperance  or  Purdy's  Hotel. 
Mrs.  McMillan  resides  in  the  city  with  one  of  her  sons,  and  is  often 
solicited  by  those  who  have  heard  something  of  her  romantic 
history,  to  relate  her  adventures  in  detail,  and  describe  the  life 
led  by  many  who  like  her,  encountered  the  perils  of  war  in  a  new 
country. 


XX. 

CHARLOTTE    A.   CLARK. 

.Cms  lady  accompanied  her  husband,  who  was  commissary  to  the 
United  States  troops,  in  November,  1819,  to  a  military  station  on 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  situated  on  the  St.  Peter's  side  of  the  river. 
Several  persons  went  with  them  from  Prairie  du  Chien ;  the  voyage 
being  made  in  keel-boats,  and  the  waters  so  low  that  the  men  were 
obliged  frequently  to  wade  in  the  river  and  draw  them  through  the 
sand.  Six  weeks  were  occupied  in  passing  over  the  distance  of 
three  hundred  miles,  one  week  of  which  was  spent  at  Lake  Pepin. 
Having  reached  the  place  of  destination,  the  company  were  obliged 
to  live  in  their  boats  till  pickets  could  be  erected-for  their  protection 
against  the  Indians,  who  not  understanding  the  object  of  this  inva- 
sion of  the  wild,  or  the  display  of  arms  and  ammunition,  might  fall 
upon  them  in  some  unguarded  moment.  Huts  also  had  to  be  built, 
though,  in  the  rudest  manner,  to  serve  as  a  shelter  during  the  winter 
from  the  rigors  of  a  severe  climate.  After  living  with  her  family  in 
the  boat  for  a  month,  it  was  a  highly  appreciated  luxury  for  Mrs. 
Clark  to  find  herself  at  home  in  a  log  hut,  plastered  with  clay,  and 
"  chinked  "  for  her  reception.  It  was  December  before  they  got  into 
winter  quarters,  and '  the  fierce  winds  of  that  exposed  region,  with 
terrific  storms  now  and  then,  were  enough  to  make  them  wish 
to  keep  within  doors  as  much  as  possible.  Once,  in  a  violent  tem- 
pest, the  roof  of  their  dwelling  was  raised  by  the  wind,  and  partially 


CHARLOTTE   A.   CLARK.  351 

slid  off;  there  was  no  protection  for  the  inmates,  but  the  baby  in 
the  cradle  was  pushed  under  the  bed  for  safety.  Notwithstanding 
these  discomforts  and  perils,  the  inconveniences  they  had  to  en- 
counter, and  their  isolated  situation,  the  little  party  of  emigrants 
were  not  without  their  social  enjoyments.  They  were  nearly  all 
young  married  persons,  cheerful  and  fond  of  gaiety,  and  had  their 
dancing  assemblages  once  a  fortnight.  An  instance  of  the  kindness 
of  the  commanding  officer,  Col.  Leaven  worth,  deserves  mention. 
One  of  the  other  officers  having  been  attacked  with  symptoms  of 
scurvy,  and  great  alarm  prevailing  on  that  account,  the  Colonel  took 
a  sleigh,  and  accompanied  by  a  few  friends,  set  off  on  a  journey 
through  the  country  inhabited  by  Indians,  not  knowing  what  dan- 
gers he  might  encounter  from  their  hostility,  or  the  perils  of  the 
way,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  medicinal  roots.  The  party  was 
absent  several  days,  and  in  the  meantime  collected  a  supply  of  hem- 
lock and  spignet,  which  they  used  with  excellent  effect  in  curing  the 
disease. 

In  the  ensuing  summer,  when  Col.  Snelling  had  the  command, 
Fort  Snelling  was  begun.  St.  Louis,  distant  nine  hundred  miles,  was 
at  that  time  the  nearest  town  of  any  importance.  After  the  erec- 
tion of  the  fort,  Mrs.  Clark  says — (i  we  made  the  first  clearing  at  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  built  a  grist-mill."  The  wife  of  Capt. 
Gfeorge  Gooding,  of  the  5th  regiment,  was  the  first  white  woman 
who  ever  visited  those  beautiful  falls.  She  afterwards  married  Col. 
Johnson,  and  went  to  reside  in  St.  Louis.  The  daughter  of  Mrs. 
Clark,  now  Mrs.  Van  Cleve  of  Ann  Arbor,  was  born  while  the 
troops  were  stationed  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  At  that  time  Col. 
Leaven  worth  received  orders  to  go  up  to  the  place  where,  in  the  follow- 
ing summer,  Fort  Snelling  was  built.  He  went,  though  he  had  at  this 
time  no  wholesome  provisions  ;  even  the  bread,  it  was  said,  was  "  two 
inches  in  the  barrels  thick  with  mould  ;"  no  vegetables  were  to  be 
had,  and  several  of  the  men  were  perishing  with  scurvy.  The 
Sioux  Indians  were  in  the  vicinity,  and  they  were  mutually  suspi- 
cious of  each  other,  so  that  no  game  could  be  bought ;  nor  was 
there  a  prospect  of  matters  being  mended  till  more  amicable  rela- 


352  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

tions  could  be  established.  The  prices  of  sucli  fresh  edibles  as  could 
be  procured  at  Prairie  du  Chien  were  enormous ;  a  small  and  lean 
chicken  procured  for  a  sick  lady  cost  a  dollar ;  beets  as  large  as  the 
finger,  one  dollar  a  dozen ;  and  onions  were  ten  dollars  a  bushel. 
The  cold  is  described  as  so  intense  that  the  soldiers  called  out  merely 
while  they  could  answer  to  the  roll,  often  had  their  faces  frost-bitten  ; 
the  thermometer  at  seven  in  the  morning  being  known  to  stand 
thirty- five  degrees  below  zero. 

Mrs.  Clark  remained  at  Fort  Snelling,  with  the  exception  of 
about  a  year,  till  1827.  The  only  young  lady  in  the  company  was 
married  when  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  to  a  Mr.  Dennis,  also  of 
the  army.  The  wedding  took  place  in  the  winter,  and  the  bridal 
party  was  obliged  to  descend  the  river,  three  hundred  miles,  on  the 
ice,  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  to  have  the  ceremony  performed.  The 
monotony  of  their  life  was  varied  by  continual  alarms  and  excite- 
ments, from  the  encounters  of  the  hostile  tribes  of  Sioux  and  Chip- 
pewas,  who  came  frequently  into  their  close  neighborhood,  and 
were  not  scrupulous  as  to  deeds  of  violence  and  treachery  towards 
each  other.  The  incidents  we  shall  mention,  illustrative  of  other 
experiences,  are  alluded  to  in  a  preceding  memoir. 

The  quarters  within  the  fort  were  crowded,  and  Mrs.  Clark's  house, 
a  substantial  stone  building,  stood  without  the  walls  a  few  rods  distant, 
on  the  military  land  adjoining.  After  the  conclusion  of  the  amicable 
treaty  already  mentioned,  the  Chippewas  had  pitched  their  camp 
at  the  foot  of  a  hill  not  far  from  this  house.  About  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  the  family  was  alarmed  by  an  unusual  noise  in  that 
direction,  and  the  discharge  of  firearms.  A  gentleman  who  was  at 
that  time  the  guest  of  Mr.  Clark,  entered  in  haste  and  some  trepi- 
dation, saying  that  a  bullet  had  just  whistled  past  his  head,  and 
that  there  must  be  some  difficulty  "  below."  The  seclusion  of  the 
dwelling  was  thought  of  with  terror  whenever  there  was  any  alarm 
at  night,  though  the  sight  of  the  fort  close  at  hand  gave  courage 
to  all  in  the  daytime.  Protection  and  aid,  however,  were  prompt- 
ly invoked,  and  the  troops  aroused.  It  appeared  that  some  of  the 
Sioux,  after  having  sat  in  the  wigwams  of  the  Chippewas,  smoked 


CHARLOTTE    A.    CLARK.  353 

the  pipe  of  peace,  and  bid  them  good  night,  had  deliberately 
turned  about  and  fired  upon  them.  The  confusion  that  ensued 
may  be  imagined  ;  the  Chippewas  flew  to  arms,  and  the  treacher- 
ous Sioux  made  their  escape.  The  commanding  officer  of  the  gar- 
rison had  the  wounded  taken  to  the  hospital,  and  attended  to  as 
well  as  the  circumstances  permitted.  Among  them  was  an  aged 
chief  and  his  little  daughter,  only  ten  years  of  age,  in  whom  the 
ladies  were  deeply  interested.  She  was  much  injured,  and  sur- 
vived but  a  short  time.  The  Indians  called  upon  the  commander, 
as  the  representative  of  their  "  great  father,"  to  compel  the  Sioux 
to  render  satisfaction  for  this  cruel  outrage ;  and  in  pursuance  of 
the  instructions  of  government  to  commanders  on  the  out-posts,  to 
maintain  peace  as  far  as  possible  between  the  hostile  tribes  without 
interfering  in  their  affairs,  he  sent  an  order  to  the  chiefs  requiring 
the  surrender  of  the  young  men  who  had  been  guilty. 

'Not  long  after  this,  a  large  party  of  Sioux  was  seen  approaching 
the  fort.  "  We  could  see  them,"  said  Mrs.  Clark,  "  for  a  long  way  on 
the  hills  by  which  Fort  Snelling  is  surrounded,  and  it  was  easy  to 
perceive  at  once  that  they  were  disposed  to  resist  the  summons.  The 
interpreter,  who  was  a  thorough  fellow,  and  knew  how  important 
was  an  aspect  of  courage  and  determination  in  dealing  with  sava- 
ges, went  out  to  meet  them,  and  informed  them  what  would  be  the 
consequence  of  their  refusal  to  comply  with  the  just  demand  ;  their 
great  father,  the  President,  would  send  into  the  country  as  many 
warriors  as  there  were  leaves  on  the  trees,  or  blades  of  grass  under 
their  feet,  and  these  would  kill  and  burn  until  not  a  Sioux  should 
be  left.  A  hurried  council  was  held  by  the  chiefs,  and  at  length  it 
was  decided  that  the  criminals  should  be  given  up."  They  were 
accordingly  delivered,  and  put  in  durance  to  await  the  pleasure  of 
the  injured  tribe.  Meanwhile  the  old  chief  who  had  been  wounded 
and  bereaved  of  his  child,  was  rapidly  sinking  to  the  grave,  and 
true  to  his  warrior  nature,  desired  only  to  live  long  enough  to  see 
just  vengeance  overtake  the  murderers.  They  were  appointed  to 
suffer  the  Indian  punishment  of  running  the  gauntlet. 

An  enclosed  piece  of  ground  was  selected,  not  far  from  the  fort,  lined 


354  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE   WEST. 

with  men  and  women  of  both  tribes,  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  being 
also  spectators  of  the  scene.     The  dying  chief  appeared,  borne  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  young  men ;  and  all  was  soon  in  readiness.     If 
the  condemned  could  reach  the  further  side  of  the  fence,  where 
their  friends  were  stationed,  their  lives  were  safe.     Again  to  quote 
Mrs.  Clark :  "  A  gentleman  wrho  chanced  to  be  in   company  with 
several  Chippewa  braves  who  had  just  come  from  the  fort,  and 
were  walking  towards  the  ground,  told  me  they  were  laughing  and 
talking  as  if  perfectly  indifferent  to  what  was  going  on,  till  they  reached 
the  place  where  the  deadly  work  was  about  to  commence.     Then 
their  countenances  underwent  a  fearful  change  almost  instantane- 
ously, expressing  the  darkest  passion  and  the  most  ferocious  hatred." 
The  scene   was  one   of  intense  and  terrible  interest.      It  last- 
ed  but  a  few  moments,  amid  cheers  from  both  sides,  and  yells 
that  were  absolutely  deafening.     The  children  of  the  white  resi- 
dents who  witnessed  it,  partook  of  the  wild  excitement.     "  My 
brother   Malcolm,"   says   Mrs.  Clark's   daughter,  "a   little   fellow, 
threw  up  his  cap,  and  shouted  with  the  rest.     One  young  Indian — 
4  Young  Six'  he  was  called — had  petted  us  frequently,  and  was  a 
great  favorite  ;  we  were  anxious  he  should  escape,  and  watched  his 
fearful  race  with  breathless  eagerness.     He  reached  the  fence,  and 
sprang  upon  it ;  a  moment  more  and  he  would  have  been   safe 
among  his  friends,  who  were  ready  to  receive  and  welcome  him, 
when  suddenly  he  bounded   high  in  air   and   fell,  pierced  by  a 
shower  of  bullets."     Women  and  men  then  rushed  frantically  upon 
the  bodies  of  the  slain  ;  the  scalps  were  torn  off,  and  the  corpses 
horribly  mutilated  with  hatchets,  the  squaws  even  thrusting  their 
fingers  into  the  bullet-holes,  and  licking  the  blood  as  it  flowed  ! 
When  the  savage  avengers  supposed  they  had  done  their  duty  to 
their  lost  friends,  the  scene  was  closed  with  their  scalp-dance,  the 
fearful  orgies  being  prolonged  several  hours. 

Perhaps,  in  the  exposed  and  perilous  situation  of  the  garrison,  the 
commandant  could  not  venture  to  interfere  with  the  execution  of  savage 
vengeance ;  for  the  mangled  bodies  of  the  slain  were  suffered  to  lie  a 
long  time  unburied.  The  old  chief,  feeling  now  that  his  time  was 


CHARLOTTE    A.    CLARK.  355 

come  for  departure  to  the  spirit-land,  caused  himself  to  be  painted 
according  to  Indian  custom,  and  the  scalps  to  be  hung  round  his 
neck,  sang  his  own  death-song,  and  expired  with  the  calmness  of  a 
hero  or  a  philosopher. 

The  daughter  of  Mrs.  Clark  was  married  to  Mr.  Van  Cleve  while 
her  parents  were  at  Fort  Winnebago.  They  were  obliged  to  send 
one  hundred  miles  for  the  clergyman — Rev.  Dr.  Gregory,  then  mis- 
sionary to  the  Indians  near  Green  Bay.  It  was  said  that  when  he 
arrived,  it  was  well  he  was  familiar  with  the  service,  being  so  snow- 
blind  from  his  long  drive,  that  -he  could  not  have  read  it. 

Mrs.  Clark  is  described  as  still  a  very  handsome  woman,  with 
grey  hair  neatly  arranged  over  a  classic  head,  and  a  countenance 
lighted  up  with  intelligence  and  spirit  when  in  conversation,  with 
great  sweetness  of  expression  at  all  times.  She  interests  every  one 
who  forms  her  acquaintance,  and  often  delights  her  friends  by  a 
narration  of  the  incidents  of  her  pioneer  experience,  delineating  the 
scenes  at  Fort  Snelling  with  so  much  graphic  and  vivid  power  that 
they  seem  to  pass  before  the  auditor.  Her  children  inherit  her 
talent,  with  her  agreeable  person  and  manners,  and  are  ornaments 
of  the  polished  society  in  which  they  move.  Mrs.  Van  Cleve 
resides  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan;  Mrs.  Clark,  Miss  Clark  and  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  in  Cincinnati,  and  another  married  daughter  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river  in  Kentucky.  Malcolm  Clark  has  spent  many 
years  at  a  distance  from  civilization  among  the  aboriginal  tribes,  and 
is  now  %  trader  near  Fort  Benton  in  Oregon,  married  to  a  woman 
of  the  "  Black  Foot"  Indians.  He  is  highly  respected  by  them, 
and  called  "  Lesokin,"  or  "  four  bears,"  because  he  killed  four  of 
those  animals  one  morning  before  breakfast.  In  1850  he  returned 
to  "  the  settlements,"  on  a  visit  to  his  family,  bringing  his  two  elder 
children  to  his  sister  to  be  educated  at  Ann  Arbor.  The  girl — 
Pistapowaca — had  been  christened  before  her  arrival  by  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  but  the  boy — Natiena — was  baptized  in  St.  An- 
drew's church  in  that  village — the  grandmother  herself  leading 
him  to  the  font,  and  appearing  as  the  only  sponsor.  The  father 
had  a  Spanish  boy  with  him,  bound  to  his  service  by  a  tie  of  grati- 


356  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

tude,  whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  the  children.  Mr.  Clark  wore  his 
Indian  dress — the  leggins  ornamented  with  human  hair — as  far 
east  as  St.  Louis — and  so  much  had  his  complexion  changed,  that 
his  sisters  would  scarcely  have  recognized  him.  The  mother  had 
cheerfully  consented  to  part  with  her  children  for  their  good,  for  she 
had  a  stout  heart,  and  knew  they  ought  to  be  taught  many  things. 
Her  boy,  she  said,  would  certainly  return ;  he  was  to  be  a  great 
chief,  as  her  father  had  been ;  and  so,  when  the  canoe  was  ready 
for  the  departure  of  her  husband  and  children,  she  accompanied 
them  to  the  river  side,  and  as  the  bark  pushed  off,  threw  herself 
upon  the  ground,  concealing  her  face  in  her  dress.  When,  after 
rounding  a  point,  they  again  caught  sight  of  her,  she  was  still  lying 
motionless,  absorbed  in  grief.  When  the  father  left  his  children  to 
return  to  his  distant  home,  the  little  girl,  taught  to  subdue  the 
expression  of  emotion,  would  not  suffer  herself  to  cry  out;  but 
clasped  her  throat  with  her  hands  to  choke  down  her  feelings. 

One  incident  in  Clark's  early  life  is  characteristic.  When  a  mere 
lad,  the  men  at  the  fort  had  trapped  a  wolf,  and  were  debating 
how  they  could  manage  to  muzzle  him,  before  taking  him  out. 
Malcolm  passing  by,  inquired  what  they  were  about,  and  imme- 
diately offered  to  hold  the  animal.  Suiting  the  action  to  the  word, 
he  clapped  his  hands  on  either  side  the  creature's  jaws,  and  held 
them  forcibly  together,  while  the  soldiers  slipped  on  the  cords. 
Clark  was  at  West  Point  when  the  Texan  difficulties  with  Mexico 
broke  out,  and  departed  to  join  the  service  ;  working  his  way  after- 
wards to  his  present  home,  where  the  traders  have  established  a 
garrison  of  their  own,  for  protection  against  the  hostile  Indians. 
Nearly  all  of  them  have  married  Indian  women,  who,  proud  of  the 
alliance,  have  become  the  "  exclusives"  of  the  country,  refusing  to 
hold  intercourse  with  other  squaws.  The  boy  aforementioned  was 
the  son  of  a  Spaniard  by  an  Indian  wife,  and  had  been  captured  by 
a  party  of  Indians  who  had  come  unexpectedly  upon  the  garrison, 
seized  him  while  others  escaped,  and  were  about  to  satiate  their 
revenge  by  torturing  him.  Watching  his  opportunity,  with  won- 
derful address,  Clark  rushed  out  at  the  gate  of  the  fort  into  the 


CHARLOTTE    GEEK.  357 

midst  of  the  savages,  caught  the  boy,  and  was  again  safe  within  the 
walls  before  the  Indians  had  recovered  from  their  surprise.  The 
poor  lad  was  wounded  severely  by  the  hatchets  thrown  at  him,  the 
scars  of  which  he  bore  ever  afterwards.  He  became  so  much 
attached  to  his  deliverer,  that  he  could  not  be  induced  at  any  time 
to  separate  from  him. 


Hezekiah  Geer  was  one  of  the  most  enterprising  among  the  pio- 
neers of  Illinois.  His  residence  is  now  at  Galena,  where  he  is  one 
of  the  largest  lead  dealers  in  that  region ;  and  his  present  prosperity, 
nobly  earned  as  it  has  been,  is  doubly  enjoyed  from  the  remembrance 
of  the  hardship,  privation,  and  actual  suffering  endured  on  their 
first  migration  into  the  country,  when  the  means  of  the  new  settler 
were  inadequate  without  incessant  toil  to  the  wants  of  a  large  fam- 
ily ;  when  for  years  they  scarcely  saw  the  face  of  a  clergyman,  except 
at  distant  intervals  an  itinerant  missionary.  The  reward  of  these 
labors,  which  Mr.  Geer's  children  share  in  peace  and  abundance,  she 
who  partook  all  his  cares,  and  practised  every  self-denial  to  lighten 
them,  did  not  live  to  enjoy.  They  removed  from  Massachusetts  to 
the  southern  part  of  Illinois  some  time  about  1820,  when  the  por- 
tions of  country  now  covered  with  smiling  villages  and  thriving  farms 
were  a  wilderness  untrodden  save  by  the  roving  hunter,  the  surveyor, 
or  the  savages  who  receded  before  the  footsteps  of  civilization.  Her 
experience  is  much  the  same  with  that  of  many  others  who  left 
home  and  kindred  to  seek  better  fortune  in  the  forest,  and  found 
themselves  obliged  to  struggle  with  difficulties  they  had  never,  or 
but  faintly  imagined. 

During  the  Black  Hawk  war  a  large  part  of  Michigan  and 
the  neighboring  territories  suffered  much  from  apprehension  of 
danger,  kept  up  by  floating  rumors  that  the  Indians  were  intent 
on  depredations  and  incited  to  attack  the  whites  by  the  occurrences 
that  had  taken  place  in  Illinois.  Mr.  Geer  and  his  family  had 
then  been  living  at  Galena  some  years.  The  inhabitants  of  the 


358  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

place  and  neighborhood  were  in  a  state  of  excitement  from  continual 
alarms,  and  prepared  to  take  refuge  in  the  fort,  in  case  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  dreaded  enemy.  It  was  an  object  with  the  commander 
to  assure  himself  that  he  might  depend  on  the  promptitude  and 
courage  of  his  troops  and  the  citizen  volunteers  in  case  of  sudden 
attack,  and  he  adopted  a  singular  method  of  testing  these  qualities. 
One  dark  and  stormy  night  he  caused  a  select  number  to  march  off 
silently  to  a  hill  not  far  distant,  where  they  raised  the  Indian  war- 
whoop.  The  ruse  was  but  too  successful  in  creating  a  general 
panic ;  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  and  men  of  the  village  were 
instantly  on  the  alert  and  ready  for  action  ;  but  the  terror  and  con- 
fusion that  prevailed  among  the  helpless  women  and  children,  were 
beyond  the  power  of  language  to  describe.  Mrs.  Geer  was  at  that 
time  the  mother  of  a  young  infant,  with  twins  not  more  than  two 
years  old.  Springing  out  of  bed  and  hastily  throwing  on  a  few 
articles  of  clothing,  she  caught  in  her  arms  her  babe  and  one  of 
the  twins — her  eldest  daughter — and  followed  by  the  other  chil- 
dren, rushed  forth,  hurrying  to  the  shelter  and  protection  of  the  fort. 
Mr.  Geer  was  at  that  time  holding  a  command,  having  been  on  duty 
since  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  The  effects  of  this  cruel  experi- 
ment were  fatal  to  some  of  the  children  who  were  borne  into  the  cold 
night  air  and  storm  by  their  terrified  mothers.  Both  those  Mrs. 
Geer  carried  in  her  arms  died  from  the  effects  of  the  exposure.  Yet 
in  the  midst  of  the  general  consternation  occasioned  by  the  alarm, 
some  of  the  women  found  time  to  laugh ;  for  one  man  who  in  his 
fear  had  hid  himself  in  a  corner  of  the  room  where  they  were  gath- 
ered in  the  fort,  was  discovered  by  some  of  them,  and  driven  out 
with  a  flourish  of  broomsticks. 

Mrs.  Clark  said  that  while  her  husband  was  at  Fort  Winnebago, 
it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  test  the  courage  of  the  soldiers  by  get- 
ting up  a  false  alarm.  The  lead  mines  were  then  attracting  consid- 
erable attention,  and  desertions  to  them  were  so  common  among 
the  soldiers  in  the  winter  of  1819,  that  orders  were  often  given  to 
beat  the  long  roll  at  dead  of  night,  that  it  might  be  ascertained  who 
was  missing.  The  commanding  officer,  just  before  this  signal 


CHARLOTTE  GEEK — MKS.  CLAKK.          359 

sounded,  would  go  round  to  the  beds  of  those  soldiers  in  whose 
fidelity  he  had  confidence  to  notify  them  of  the  object  of  the  alarm. 
But  the  women  even  of  his  own  family,  though  warned,  could  not 
hear  the  dismal  note  of  the  drum  without  a  thrill  of  terror.  It  may 
be  supposed  that  experiments  of  this  kind  could  not  be  frequently 
repeated  with  the  intended  effect. 

At  the  time  of  Mrs.  Geer's  last  illness  and  death,  her  husband 
sent  two  hundred  miles  for  an  Episcopal  clergyman  to  administer 
the  sacrament  and  baptize  his  children;  but  the  spirit  could  not 
linger  for  the  "  slow  arrival,"  and  had  already  gone  to  sit  at  the  hea- 
venly table  of  Him  on  whom  her  hopes  of  everlasting  life  were 
fixed.  Her  last  resting  place  is  near  the  great  Mississippi. 

Mrs.  Geer's  name  was  Charlotte  Clark.  She  was  the  sister  of 
Rev.  William  A.  Clark,  D.D.,  Rector  of  All  Saints'  Church,  New 
York,  Rev.  Grin  Clark,  D.D.,  formerly  Rector  at  Geneva,  New 
York,  and  Rev.  John  A.  Clark,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia.  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam A.  Clark  should  be  numbered  among  the  Western  female  pio- 
neers. When  a  young  and  gay  girl,  she  removed  with  her  god- 
parents, Mr.  and  Mrs.  TenEyck,  and  the  Yredenburghs  to  Skenea- 
teles,  then  almost  a  wilderness.  At  the  time  of  her  marriage,  Mr. 
Clark  was  one  of  the  first  missionaries  of  the  Episcopal  church  in 
Western  New  York ;  and  to  him  she  proved  a  true  co-worker  in  his 
duties,  conforming  cheerfully  to  the  circumstances  in  which  she  was 
placed,  and  giving  up  her  own  inclinations  at  all  times.  She  became 
the  mother  of  nine  children.  The  family  removed  to  Buffalo  about 
1817,  and  to  Michigan  in  the  spring  of  1837,  after  which  Mrs. 
Clark  suffered  every  year  from  the  fevers  of  the  country,  which 
undermined  a  constitution  naturally  strong.  She  is  retiring  in 
manner  and  domestic  in  her  habits,  yet  fond  of  society  at  home,  and 
charming  all  who  approach  her.  The  habit  acquired  through  years 
of  self-denial  of  sacrificing  her  own  inclinations,  has  caused  her  to 
think  less  of  the  merely  ornamental  than  the  useful  in  life.  In  the 
first  year  after  her  marriage,  she  was  accustomed  to  wear  white  mus- 
lin dresses ;  but  "  some  of  the  congregation  "  in  the  country  village 
where  her  husband  officiated,  decided  that  she  was  *'  too  much 


360  PIONEEK   WOMEN   OF   THE  WEST. 

dressed,"  and  finding  that  the  matter  was  commented  on,  she  laid 
aside  the  obnoxious  garments  and  never  afterwards  wore  white. 
The  corner  stone  of  the  first  Episcopal  church  in  Buffalo  was  laid  by 
Mr.  Clark.  He  lived  but  three  years  after  leaving  the  city  of  New 
York  for  Michigan,  and  lies  buried  in  a  beautiful  opening  near  the 
village  of  Brighton,  Livingston  County.  His  children  owe  the  cul- 
tivation of  their  talents,  and  their  usefulness  in  life,  to  the  judicious 
training  of  their  parents,  and  most  affectionately  do  they  acknowledge 
the  obligation.  They  have  truly  risen  up  to  call  their  mother 
blessed.  Two  of  them,  Chloe  and  Mary  H.  Clark,  now  reside  in 
Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  and  one  is  a  minister  of  an  Episcopal  church 
in  Cincinnati. 


XXL 

SARAH   BRYAN. 

IN  the  severe  labors  peculiar  to  pioneers  in  a  new  country,  the  trials 
and  privations  they  were  compelled  to  encounter  from  day  to  day, 
Mrs.  Bryan  was  as  conspicuous  as  any  of  the  early  settlers  of  Michi- 
gan. She  came  with  John  Bryan  her  husband,  to  Ypsilanti,  taking 
up  their  residence  on  a  small  farm  at  what  is  now  called  "  Wood- 
ruff's Grove."  Her  journal  says  :  "  We  left  Geneseo  October  7th, 
1823,  for  our  new  home — arrived  in  Detroit  in  ten  days ;  put  up  at 
the  Widow  Hubbard's,  who  kept  a  sort  of  boarding  house,  and  de- 
posited our  goods  in  the  cellar  till  my  husband  could  go  out  to  the 
"  Grove"  (as  the  settlement  was  then  called)  and  procure  a  team  to 
move  us  through.  He  returned  in  three  days  with  a  man,  two  yoke 
of  oxen,  and  a  wagon,  which  we  found  was  not  sufficient  to  contain 
all  our  goods  and  the  family.  This  consisted  of  five  children,  besides 
myself  and  husband.  Fortunately  for  us,  however,  we  found  a  young 
man  who  was  going  out  with  but"  half  a  load,  and  persuaded  him  to 
take  the  remainder  of  ours.  After  a  wearisome  and  almost  indescrib- 
able journey  of  four  days  through  thick  woods,  my  husband  cutting 
the  road  before  us  with  an  axe,  we  came,  the  night  of  October  23rd, 
to  the  beautiful  Huron  shore.  We  had  the  privilege  of  staying  in 
a  log  cabin  till  we  could  build  one  of  our  own,  which  we  moved 
into  the  last  day  of  December.  Eight  weeks  after  this,  February 
27th,  1824,  Alpha  was  born;  we  called  him  Alpha  Washtenaw, 
16 


362  PIONEEK   WOMEN    OF  THE   WEST. 

the  latter  name  being  given  in  honor  of  the  county,  and  the  former 
on  account  of  his  being  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  county." 
Allen  and  Kamsay,  the  first  settlers  of  Ann  Arbor,  agreed  to  mark 
the  auspicious  event  by  presenting  the  infant  with  a  lot  of  land  at 
the  county  seat. 

"  It  was  amusing  that  first  fall  and  winter  to  hear  the  corn  mills 
in  operation  every  morning  before  daylight.  There  were  but  two 
in  the  settlement,  made  by  burning  a  hole  in  the  top  of  a  sound 
oak  stump,  large  enough  to  hold  a  peck  or  more.  After  scraping 
the  coal  clean  from  the  stump,  one  end  of  a  stick,  some  six  feet 
long  and  eight  inches  in  diameter,  was  rounded,  and  it  was  sus- 
pended from  a  spring-pole  so  that  the  rounded  end  would  clear  the 
stump  when  hanging  loosely.  A  hole  was  bored  through  this  pestle 
and  a  stick  driven  through  projecting  on  each  side  for  handles,  and 
the  mill  was  finished.  One  man  would  pound  a  peck  of  dry  corn 
in  half  an  hour  so  that  half  of  it  would  pass  through  a  sieve  for 
bread ;  the  coarser  part  being  either  ground  again  or  boiled  for 
hominy.  Very  little  bread  of  any  other  kind  was  used  in  the  set- 
tlement for  the  first  two  years.  But  as  regards  my  own  experience, 
the  autumn  of  1824  was  the  most  trying.  Thus  far  we  had  en^ 
countered  few  more  inconveniences  than  we  anticipated  in  the  wil- 
derness, and  I  was  prepared  for  them,  prepared  to  bear  all  without 
a  murmur.  In'  October  Mr.  Bryan  accepted  an  offer  to  finish  a 
building  at  Maumee  city,  and  shipped  his  tools  at  Detroit,  where  he 
had  been  doing  an  eight  months'  job.  He  came  home  and  stayed 
a  few  days  to  provide  some  wood,  and  told  me  if  he  was  likely  to 
be  more  than  three  weeks  absent,  he  would  return  at  the  end  of 
that  time  and  put  up  more  provisions,  as  our  small  stock  would 
be  then  exhausted.  No  person  had  tnen  attempted  to  penetrate 
the  forest  from  our  place  to  Monroe,  but  rather  than  go  round  by 
Brownstown,  .he  determined  to  take  the  risk  of  finding  his  way 
through  the  woods  alone.  My  heart  sank  within  me  to  think  of 
what  would  be  my  fate  and  that  of  my  six  children,  if  any  evil 
should  befal  him  alone  in  the  forest;  I  however  summoned  my 
fortitude  and  resolved  not  to  be  faint-hearted." 


SARAH   BRYAN.  363 

An  attack  of  illness  followed.  "  The  three  weeks  passed  ;  a  good 
supply  of  potatoes  was  nearly  all  tl>e  provisions  we  had  left,  and  I 
began  to  look  with  great  anxiety  for  my  husband.  A  felon  on  my 
right  hand  deprived  me  entirely  of  the  use  of  it  for  more  than  three 
weeks.  With  the  pain,  fatigue,  and  want  of  sleep  I  was  ready  to 
despair,  but  for  my  children's  sake  I  kept  up  my  resolution  ;  still  no 
tidings  came  from  Mr.  Bryan,  and  my  fears  for  his  safety  became 
more  and  more  painful.  Two  months  passed,  and  brought  cold  De- 
cember for  me  and  my  little  ones,  but  brought  no  news  from  him 
whose  duty  it  was  to  provide  for  us.  My  sufferings  became  extreme. 
I  tried  to  get  some  one  to  go  in  search  of  him,  and  ascertain  at  least 
if  he  ever  got  through  the  woods  alive,  but  I  had  no  money  even  to 
bear  expenses,  and  all  told  me  they  '  guessed '  he  was  safe  and  would 
soon  return.  How  myself  and  babes  were  to  live  meanwhile  I  knew 
not.  We  had  eaten  nothing  but  potatoes  for  several  weeks  ;  the  neigh- 
bors were  nearly  as  destitute  and  had  nothing  to  lend,  even  if  I  could 
have  borrowed  when  I  could  not  expect  to  pay  again.  For  a  temporary 
change  in  diet  from  potatoes  alone,  I  ventured  to  borrow  a  few  ears  of 
corn,  promising  to  pay  if  Mr.  Bryan  ever  returned  ;  this  I  shelled  and 
boiled  to  jelly,  which  we  relished  very  much  while  it  lasted. 

"It  was  now  the  23d  of  December;  I  had  been  all  day  trying 
to  induce  some  one  to  go  to  Maumee  for  tidings,  and  had  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  promise  from  a  young  man  that  he  would  go  in  two 
or  three  days  if  I  would  get  a  horse.  Alas  !  horses  were  as 
scarce  as  bread,  and  I  knew  it  would  be  impossible  to  procure  one. 
I  returned  home  and  stood  in  our  log  cabin  door,  thinking  what  to 
do  next,  when  my  husband  rode  up,  and  put  an  end  to  my  fears. 
He  had  written  several  letters,  which  were  delayed  in  Detroit,  and 
never  reached  me.  Finding  wages  high,  and  the  roads  very  bad,  he 
had  concluded  to  remain,  supposing  I  was  well  provided  for.  Our 
sufferings  for  five  or  six  years  after  this  were  even  greater,  if  possible, 
than  before,  but  it  would  take  a  volume  to  describe  them." 

These  difficulties  passed  over.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryan  had  what 
served  for  a  competence  in  those  days,  and  were  of  excellent  charao- 


364  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

ter  and  industrious  habits ;  being  of  respectable  stock,  and  training 
up  their  children  to  become  useful  members  of  the  community 
Their  care  and  efforts  were  required  for  a  large  family  ;  and  those 
who  live  within  reach  of  all  the  advantages  of  civilization,  can  hardly 
understand  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  improvement  which  existed 
in  a  pioneer  settlement.  There  were  no  public  schools,  no  churches, 
nor  did  there  seem  to  be  any  Sabbaths,  judging  from  observation  of 
the  habits  of  some  of  the  backwoodsmen.  The  first  Sabbath  school 
gathered  together  in  this  place,  was  in  the  summer  of  1828.  That 
same  year  a  small  school  was  kept  in  a  log  room  some  twelve  or 
fourteen  feet  square,  by  a  young  woman  whose  education  hardly 
fitted  her  for  the  employment.  Mrs.  Bryan,  with  a  few  other 
women  of  the  settlement,  took  a  great  interest  in  the  Sunday  school, 
and  some  other  efficient  plans  for  benevolent  effort  were  set  on  foot 
through  her  active  agency  and  cooperation.  She  was  directress  of 
the  first  benevolent  society  in  that  part  of  the  country.  The  new 
emigrants  at  that  time  suffered  much  from  sickness  peculiar  to  the 
region,  and  often  whole  families  were  prostrated  at  once  by  the 
fever  of  the  country.  Mrs.  Bryan  did  not  spare  herself  when  her 
aid  or  nursing  was  required  by  her  neighbors ;  day  and  night  found 
her  at  the  bedside  of  the  suffering,  or  in  the  shanties  of  the  poor, 
and. many  an  invalid  who  had  no  comfortable  shelter  has  been  taken 
to  her  own  home,  provided  with  everything  requisite,  and  waited 
upon  with  all  the  tenderness  and  care  of  a  mother. 

As  the  children  grew  older,  the  want  of  a  good  school  was  more 
sensibly  felt ;  and  as  there  was  none  in  the  vicinity,  Mrs.  Bryan 
appropriated  to  the  purpose  the  best  room  in  her  house,  and  engaged 
a  young  man  of  good  education,  who  was  in  want  of  a  comfortable 
home,  to  teach  her  children,  with  others  in  the  village  who  were 
permitted  to  join  them.  Thus  was  a  good  foundation  laid  for  the 
advantages  afterwards  enjoyed,  and  each  member  of  their  large  family 
received  a  substantial  English  education.  Some  of  them  have  since 
attained  to  distinguished  excellence  in  the  higher  departments  of 
literature.  The  eldest  daughter,  now  residing  in  Illinois,  was  equalled 
by  few  scholars  of  the  time  in  various  branches  of  study,  particularly 


SARAH    BUY AN.  365 

mathematics  ;  and  the  second  daughter  is  now  Mrs.  Lois  B.  Adams, 
with  whose  high  reputation  as  a  poet  and  prose  writer  many  Ameri- 
can readers  are  acquainted.  Her  first  poetical  effusions  appeared 
in  the  Kalarnazoo  Telegraph,  in  which  paper  Mr.  Adams  had  an 
interest  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  She  now  resides  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  Kentucky,  where  she  has  charge  of  a  female  seminary. 

In  1835  or  '6  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryan  removed  from  Ypsilanti,  and 
at  present  are  living  in  Constantine,  Michigan.  They  had  eight 
children  at  the  time  of  their  removal,  and  all  have  grown  up  to  re- 
spectability and  usefulness,  having  in  early  life  had  the  judicious 
training  of  a  religious  mother,  who  watched  over  them  in  love,  guid- 
ing them  by  precept  and  example,  and  by  her  affectionate  and  cheer- 
ful spirit  diffusing  perpetual  sunshine  in  her  home. 

A  lady  whose  family  lived  in  Livingston  county,  one  of  the  most 
recently  settled  in  Michigan,  and  inhabited  generally  by  poor  peo- 
ple, says  their  range  of  what  might  be  called  society  was  limited  to 
less  than  half  a  dozen  families,  the  nearest  distant  about  four  miles, 
and  some  ten  or  more  from  each  other.  They  had  left  a  large  circle 
of  friends  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  as  it  may  be  supposed,  felt 
the  change  to  the  wild  country  ;  yet  were  they  contented  and  cheer- 
ful, pining  only  when  prevented  by  inclement  weather  from  wander- 
ing through  the  woods  or  fields  in  summer,  plucking  the  wild  flowers 
which  grow  in  such  profusion  and  beauty  in  the  openings.  The 
annual  fires  kindled  by  the  Indians  and  first  settlers  to  destroy  the 
old  grass,  and  prepare  for  an  early  and  abundant  crop  in  spring,  are 
said  to  have  produced  many  of  the  openings,  the  flames  extending 
often  beyond  the  marshes  or  prairies.  The  farmers  were  in  the 
habit  of  ploughing  trenches  round  the  outside  of  their  fences  to  ensure 
their  safety  ;  yet  sometimes  the  fire  did  serious  damage  among  hay- 
stacks, wheat  or  barns,  to  which  the  wind  carried  it.  In  consequence 
of  this  clanger,  severe  legal  penalties  were  attached  to  the  act  of  set- 
ting fire  to  marshes,  yet  it  continued  to  be  practised  for  years  till  they 
became  private  property,  sadly  marring  the  beauty  of  the  view, 
destroying  the  trees,  and  preventing  the  growth  of  the  young  oaks. 
The  bushes  which  sprang  in  a  season  from  their  roots,  called  "  oak- 


366  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST 

grubs,"  are  difficult  to  remove  from  the  soil.  A  poor  man  whose 
means  just  sufficed  to  remove  his  family,  and  perhaps  keep  one  cow, 
had  often  to  work  out  many  days  before  he  could  afford  to  hire  a 
"  breaking  up  team,"  which  was  a  plough  constructed  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  from  five  to  seven  yoke  of  oxen.  The  wife  picked  and 
dried  berries  in  the  fall,  often  in  marshes  so  wet  that  she  was  obliged 
to  wear  her  husband's  boots.  By  the  sale  of  cranberries,  she  fur- 
nished herself  with  many  little  comforts  she  could  not  otherwise 
have  procured.  Flour  could  always  be  had  at  the  mills  in  exchange 
for  this  article.  By  such  industry  and  patient  perseverance  was  the 
way  prepared  for  the  occupation  of  those  lands  by  an  intelligent, 
enterprising,  and  'tow  prosperous  people.  Not  the  least  of  the 
sufferings  of  th^  primitive  settlers  arose  from  sickness,  whole  families 
having  to  pass  through  the  terrible  acclimating,  often  at  the  same 
time,  and  the  ravages  of  disease  sometimes  leaving  desolate  the 
widow  and  the  orphan,  far  distant  from  kindred  or  early  friends. 
At  such  time  the  sympathy  and  kind  offices  of  neighbors  were  never 
withheld,  even  though  they  might  also  be  suffering  and  almost  des- 
titute. Physicians  were  few  and  far  apart  in  the  inland  counties, 
and  even  when  their  attendance  could  be  had,  their  want  of  know- 
ledge of  the  local  fevers  was  often  the  source  of  mischief  rather  than 
good. 

A  change  nas  now  passed  over  the  face  of  the  country.  How 
progressive  has  been  the  expression  "  the  far  West !"  Many  years 
since  it  might  have  meant  the  western  part  of  New  York,  as  a  resi- 
dent of  its  metropolis  once  said  she  had  been  "out  west"  to  visit 
her  sister,  who  lived  at  Pennyan,  in  Yates  County !  A  young 
woman  of  Skeneateles  was  engaged  many  years — her  friends  being 
unwilling  to  let  her  marry  and  go  so  far  away  as  the  Ohio  ;  and  when 
finally  the  knot  was  tied,  she  remained  three  years  under  the  parental 
roof  before  she  could  be  permitted  to  take  so  long  and  perilous  a 
journey.  From  the  Ohio  the  foot  of  emigration  bore  "  the  far 
West"  farther ;  it  settled  for  a  while  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Michigan,  then  passed  to  Iowa  and  Wisconsin,  and  now  is  wavering 
beyond  the  Mississippi  in  Minnesota,  with  the  cry  for  Oregon  and 


MKS.    CHAPIN.  367 

California,  And  not  long  since,  we  noticed  a  jocular  proposition  to 
erect  a  tollgate  at  the  boundary  of  the  domain  of  the  United  States, 
in  the  middle  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


SYLVIA  CHAPIN,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Cyrenius  Chapin,  was  the  oldest 
pioneer  among  the  first  settlers  of  Buffalo.  In  all  the  vicissitudes 
she  experienced,  she  well  and  faithfully  discharged  the  duties  that  lay 
before  her,  as  wife,  mother,  neighbor,  and  Christian  woman  ;  exhibit- 
ing, with  the  high  qualities  of  firmness  and  energy,  a  quiet  dignity, 
gentleness  and  kindliness  which  won  the  affection  of  those  who 
knew  her  best,  as  well  as  commanded  the  respect  of  her  acquain- 
tances. Her  "  patient  continuance  in  well  doing,"  has  met  its  re- 
ward in  the  comfort  and  respectability  of  her  advanced  age,  passed 
among  her  children  and  descendants. 

Dr.  Chapin  came  to  Buffalo  with  his  family  in  1805.  It  is 
stated  in  Turner's  "Pioneer  History  of  the  Holland  Purchase  of 
Western  New  York,  etc.,"  that  in  1806  there  were  but  sixteen 
houses  in  the  place,  and  those  located  on  what  is  now  called  Main 
Street.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in  December  1813  the  town 
was  burnt  by  the  British,  who  had  crossed  near  Black  Rock.  On 
hearing  their  firing,  Chapin,  who  commanded  a  portion  of  the 
citizen  soldiery,  went  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  holding  up  his  cane, 
with  a  white  handkerchief  fastened  to  the  end,  obtained  a  parley, 
and  finally  a  promise  that  the  town  should  be  spared.  Mrs.  Chapin 
at  this  period  of  anxiety  was  compelled  to  leave  home  to  assist  in 
the  care  of  her  daughter's  sick  husband,  but  before  her  departure 
instructed  her  two  other  little  girls  to  sleep  always  with  a  bundle  of 
necessary  clothing  under  their  heads,  and  in  case  of  alarm,  to  go  off 
with  the  rest  of  the  citizens  if  necessarv.  The  agreement  not  to 

*>  o 

molest  the  town  was  violated.  Dr.  Chapin  was  on  duty,  and  of  course 
unable  to  attend  to  his  children.  Louisa  related  how  they  were 
waked  at  dead  of  night  with  the  noise  and  confusion  in  the  streets, 


368  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

hurriedly  made  their  simple  preparations, 'and  stepped  out  of  doors 
to  join  the  crowd.  In  the  darkness,  amid  the  severity  of  winter, 
women  and  children  took  up  their  doleful  march.  The  first  glim- 
mering of  day  mingled  with  the  lurid  glare  from  their  burning 
dwellings,  and  at  almost  every  step  those  who  fled  from  their  homes 
encountered  the  wounded  and  fugitives  from  the  action  below.  In 
the  pressure  and  confusion  of  the  crowd  hurrying  onward,  mothers 
were  separated  from  their  children,  and  lost  sight  of  each  other, 
being  in  many  cases  for  days  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  their  beloved 
relatives.  On,  on  our  fugitives  went  through  the  dark  deep  woods, 
continually  within  hearing  of  the  savage  yells  around  them,  and 
trembling  with  fear,  for  they  could  not  tell  where  the  Indians  were, 
and  they  seemed  to  be  coming  upon  them.  Finally,  after  a  travel  of 
pome  hours,  the  little  girls  halted  with  the  rest,  and  were  refreshed 
with  a  drink  of  milk  at  a  farmhouse.  In  the  mean  time,  while  this 
was  going  on  in  the  neighborhood  of  Buffalo,  Mrs.  Chapin  was 
overwhelmed  with  anxiety  about  her  husband  and  children.  The 
sick  man.  she  nursed  had  died,  and  she  was  for  weeks  uncertain  of 
the  fate  of  her  children,  and  for  some  days  of  that  of  her  husband, 
for  she  knew  there  had  been  an  engagement. 

One  woman  of  masculine  bearing,  Mrs.  St.  John,  persisted  not- 
withstanding the  general  alarm,  in  staying  with  her  young  daughters 
to  protect  their  property,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  favor  of 
having  the  house  she  occupied  exempted  from  destruction.  It  was 
the  only  building  saved  except  the  stone  jail,  which  resisted  the 
efforts  to  set  it  on  fire.  The  house  was  afterwards  presented  to 
Mrs.  St.  John  by  the  authorities.  A  neighbor  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  street,  a  Mrs.  Lovejoy,  was  less  fortunate.  It  was  supposed 
that  fear  had  driven  her  into  temporary  insanity ;  she  made 
no  attempt  to  solicit  mercy  or  protection,  but  barricaded  her  doors 
and  windows,  and  thus  awaited  the  intruders.  For  a  while  she  was 
unmolested,  till  an  Indian,  bent  on  plunder,  effected  his  entrance ; 
then,  instead  of  submitting  to  what  was  inevitable,  the  loss  of  her 
goods,  Mrs.  Lovejoy  attempted  to  rescue  them,  and  defended  her- 
self with  a  large  carving  knife.  In  a  contest  for  a  red  merino  long 


ANECDOTES.  369 

shawl  she  wounded  the  savage,  nearly  severing  his  thumb  from  his 
hand.  The  Indian  ran  across  the  way  to  Mrs.  St.  John,  whom  he 
ordered  to  bind  it  up ;  then  hurried  back,  she  knew  too  well  for  the 
purpose  of  vengeance.  The  next  thing  she  heard  was  a  scream, 
and  presently  the  savage  appeared  again,  a  scalp  with  a  woman's 
long  hair  hanging  from  his  belt. 

Mrs.  Chapin  preserved  several  pieces  of  plate  which  were  at  that 
time  in  her  possession.  A  silver  pitcher  in  her  house  bears  the 
inscription: — "Presented  by  the  citizens  of  Buffalo  to  Colonel 
Cyrenius  Chapin,  the  brave  soldier,  the  good  citizen,  the  honest 
man." 

Tradition  says  that  Tecumseh  often  caused  much  annoyance 
to  one  lady  in  Detroit,  by  cutting  the  air  with  his  tomahawk  close 
to  her  daughters'  heads  ;  also  that  her  ingenuity  devised  a  scheme 
of  revenge  on  one  occasion,  when  her  children  had  the  measles,  and 
the  chief  had  laid  himself  on  her  floor  to  sleep.  She  gave  him  the 
pillow  from  under  the  heads  of  the  sick  ones,  hoping  he  would  take 
the  disease  and  lose  his  life  by  following  the  Indian  practice  of  jump- 
ing into  the  water  in  case  of  fever.  There  was  no  time  to  test  the 
success  of  her  plan,  for  shortly  after  this  occurred  the  battle  of  the 
Thames,  in  which  Tecumseh  lost  his  life. 

A  woman  in  one  of  the  remote  counties  of  Michigan  told  one  of 
her  neighbors,  that  after  her  removal  to  her  new  house,  when  the 
.few  provisions  they  had  been  able  to  bring  were  exhausted,  and  the 
roads  so  wretched  through  the  heavily  timbered  land  that  it  was 
scarcely  possible  to  bring  supplies  from  Detroit,  her  family  had  lived 
on  potato  tops,  boiled  with  a  little  salt,  till  something  better  could 
be  raised.  In  the  early  settlement  of  Wayne  county  a  family  hav- 
ing succeeded  in  getting  a  pig,  penned  it  up  and  began  to  fatten  it 
for  slaughter,  when  the  matron  one  day,  at  home  alone  with  her 
children,  was  alarmed  by  the  sight  of  a  huge  bear  helping  himself 
without  ceremony  at  her  out-of-door  larder.  Fortunately,  she  was 
acquainted  with  the  use  of  a  rifle,  and  having  wounded,  succeeded 
in  driving  away  the  bear  ;  he  was  afterwards  tracked  by  the  men, 
and  his  thieving  career  ended  with  his  life. 


370  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

The  story  of  Lucy  Chapin — no  relative  of  those  mentioned — is 
mentioned  among  the  reminiscences  of  this  period.  A  New  Eng- 
land family,  sensible,  well-educated,  and  accustomed  to  all  the  ad- 
vantages found  in  long  established  communities,  from  a  flaw  in  the 
deed  securing  their  farm,  found  themselves  suddenly  homeless.  One 
of  the  brothers,  who  had  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  went  with 
his  sister  Lucy  to  Hamburg,  near  Buffalo,  and  purchased  land, 
which  he  set  about  clearing  to  make  a  home  for  his  mother  and  the 
rest  of  the  family.  He  built  a  rough  log  hut,  which  was  for  some 
time  without  a  window,  the  opening  being  closed  when  it  was  cold 
or  stormy,  and  the  room  left  in  darkness.  The  brother  was  obliged 
to  work  out  at  his  trade,  for  means  to  cany  on  improvements  at  his 
own  place,  and  meanwhile  the  sister  was  often  left  alone  for  three 
weeks  at  a  time.  She  became  so  nervously  sensitive,  that  the 
slightest  noise  would  alarm  her,  and  but  for  a  determined  spirit, 
and  her  brother's  cheerful  temperament,  she  thought  her  reason 
would  have  given  way.  On  one  occasion,  a  weary  old  man  called 
at  the  house  to  ask  for  a  cup  of  water ;  Lucy,  terrified  she  knew 
not  at  what,  ran  off,  and  was  found  by  her  brother  on  his  return 
after  one  of  his  long  absences,  sitting  on  a  stump  weeping.  He 
encouraged  her,  and  both  returned  home,  where  they  found  the 
stranger  waiting  quietly.  Their  neighbors  lived  at  a  considerable 
distance,  and  were  all  poor  and  illiterate  ;  they  found  no  congenial 
society,  avoided  all  association  with  others  except  what  neces- 
sity and  civility  required,  and  led  a  life  of  hermit-like  seclusion, 
Lucy  assisting  to  provide  necessaries  by  sewing  whenever  she  could 
get  any  work  to  do.  It  was  not  long  before  a  family  by  the  name 
of  Russell,  agreeable,  intelligent,  and  kind-hearted,  came  to  live  in 
their  vicinity ;  they  had  been  banished  by  change  of  fortune  from 
their  early  home,  but  were  cultivated,  and  had  books,  and  their 
arrival  was  joyfully  welcomed  by  the  emigrants.  Miss  Chapin 
afterwards  kept  house  in  Buffalo  for  her  brother  Roswell,  who  was 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  law,  and  many  anecdotes  are  told  of  her 
economy,  industry,  and  ingenuity.  She  described,  among  her  ex- 
periences in  the  backwoods,  her  sufferings  during  an  illness  when 


ANECDOTES.  371 

the  snow-wreaths  often  lay  upon  the  coverlet  of  her  bed  ;  their  only 
security  for  the  door,  till  it  could  be  hung,  being  to  push  the  wash- 
tub  against  it.  She  would  never  allow  her  friends  at  home  in  New 
England  to  know  the  trials  she  endured.  "  They  can  never  know 
the  half,"  she  used  to  say.  The  loneliness,  anxieties,  and  hardships 
she  suffered  so  long,  seriously  impaired  her  health  in  after  life. 

An  anecdote  illustrative  of  female  quickness  of  apprehension 
and  presence  of  mind,  is  related  of  the  housekeeper  of  Gen.  Porter, 
at  Black  Eock.  Early  one  morning,  before  the  General  had  risen,  a 
party  of  Indians  in  the  British  service,  who  had  crossed  from  the 
Canada  side,  came  to  the  door,  demanding  to  see  him.  The  house- 
keeper, without  betraying  the  least  surprise  or  alarm,  informed 
them  that  the  General  had  just  gone  up  to  Buffalo,  pointing  to  the 
road  which  led  thither  by  the  most  circuitous  course,  As  the 
savages  hurried  away,  in  hopes  of  overtaking  the  object  of  their 
pursuit,  she  gave  the  alarm  to  the  General,  who  lost  no  time  in 
mounting  his  horse  and  riding  by  the  shortest  way  to  the  town, 
where  he  arrived  in  time  to  make  preparation  for  the  enemy. 

Mr.  Turner  relates  a  story  of  "  a  night  with  the  wolves,"  which  is 
worth  mentioning  as  an  incident  of  pioneer  life.  One  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Niagara  County  had  just  finished  building  a  log  hut — the 
door  only  wanting — in  the  woods,  for  the  occupancy  of  his  family. 
It  was  so  far  to  go  to  mill,  that  when  it  was  necessary  to  fetch  a 
supply  of  flour,  he  was  always  obliged  to  be  a  night  away  from 
home.  One  night,  in  his  absence,  the  wife  heard  wolves  snarling 
just  at  the  door,  which  was  only  defended  by  a  blanket.  Terrified 
for  the  safety  of  her  young  children,  she  forgot  all  fears  for  herself, 
and  stood  with  axe  in  hand  at  the  opening,  keeping  guard  during 
the  long  hours  of  that  night,  till  the  howling  died  away  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  she  was  satisfied  the  fierce  creatures  would  return  no 
more. 

"The  early  settlers  in  Farmershill,  Cataraugus,  drew  up  a  code 
of  rules  for  their  mutual  advantage,  from  which  the  following 
curious  section  is  extracted:  *  If  any  single  woman  over  fourteen 
years  of  age  shall  come  to  reside  in  our  village,  and  no  one  of  this 


372  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

confederacy  shall  offer  her  his  company  within  a  fortnight  thereafter, 
then  in  such  case  our  board  shall  be  called  together,  and  some  one 
shall  be  appointed  to  make  her  a  visit,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
perform  the  same,  or  forfeit  the  approbation  of  the  company  and 
pay  a  fine  sufficiently  large  to  buy  the  lady  thus  neglected  a  new 
dress.'  Few  towns,"  continues  Turner,  "  in  the  Purchase  have  been 
more  prosperous ;  and  it  is  quite  likely  that  this  early  regulation 
aided  essentially  in  the  work  of  founding  a  new  settlement  and 
speeding  its  progress 

As  an  offset  to  the  above,  the  same  writer  gives  an  account  of  a 
bachelor's  settlement  in  Orleans  County,  which,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, turned  out  a  failure.  A  cotemporary  says  :  "  They  began 
in  a  year  or  two  to  go  east  and  get  them  wives."  This  broke 
up  the  establishment,  and  most  of  its  bachelor  founders  became 
Benedicts  and  heads  of  families. 

"  By  perseverance  I  succeeded  early  one  morning  in  getting  to 
the  old  burial  place  of  the  Senecas.  The  Indian  church- — now 
used  as  a  stable,  with  hay  protruding  from  the  windows  and  ma- 
nure heaps  outside — arrested  my  attention,  and  I  stopped  opposite 
the  lane  leading  from  the  main  road  to  the  spot  I  sought.  At  the 
end  of  this  lane,  leaping  over  a  broken  rail  fence,  and  following  a 
little  foot-path  running  by  the  side  of  a  potato  patch,  a  few  steps 
brought  me  to  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  quiet  nooks  in  the 
world ;  a  pleasant  opening,  rather  more  elevated  than  the  rest  of 
the  field  with  which  it  was  enclosed,  and  shaded  here  and  there  by 
large  oaks,  the  branches  of  which  were  now  swaying  in  the  wind, 
and  sighing  a  requiem  to  the  memory  of  the  red  man.  Graves 
were  thickly  sown  around — some  marked  by  boards,  others  only  by 
the  swelling  of  the  turf.  There  were  four  marble  slabs  ;  two  in  a 
picketed  enclosure  were  monuments  of  white  children  ;  one  of  the 
daughter  of  a  clergyman,  probably  the  local  missionary.  The 
most  prominent,  which  was  not  enclosed,  bore  the  inscription,  '  In 
memory  of  the  white  woman,  Mary  Jemison,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Jemison  and  Jane  Irwin,  bom  on  the  ocean  between  Ireland  and 
Philadelphia  in  1 742  or  '3,  taken  captive  at  Marsh  Creek,  Pa.  in 


MKS.    ANDEKSON.  373 

1755,  carried  down  the  Ohio,  adopted  into  an  Indian  family  in 
1759,  removed  to  Genesee  River,  naturalized  in  1817,  removed  to 
this  place  in  1831.  Having  survived  two  husbands  and  five  chil- 
dren, leaving  three  still  alive,  she  died  Sept.  19th,  1833,  aged  about 
ninety- one  years,  having  a  few  weeks  before  expressed  a  hope  of 
pardon,  etc.'  A  little  beyond  Mary  Jemison's  grave,  was  that  of 
Red  Jacket,  the  celebrated  orator  and  chief."  The  stone  was  much 
mutilated,  being  broken  off  so  as  to  deface  the  inscription. 


MRS.  ANDERSON,  whose  house  was  visited  by  depredators, 
boldly  faced  them  for  the  protection  of  her  property.  Seating  her- 
self on  a  trunk  they  were  about  to  carry  off,  she  told  them  they 
might  shoot  her,  but  should  never  possess  it  while  she  lived.  The 
Indians,  with  a  significant  "  ugh"  left  her,  saying  she  was  too  much 
of  a  man  to  be  robbed.  One  of  the  early  settlers  in  Plymouth, 
Wayne  County,  Michigan,  showed  a  more  timid  spirit  and  fared 
worse,  it  being  her  practice  at  first  to  yield  implicitly  to  their 
demands.  Once  she  was  compelled  to  hand  out  of  the  oven  the 
rolls  she  had  just  baked  for  supper.  One  evening,  her  husband 
having  gone  to  a  neighbor's  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  her  child 
lying  asleep  in  the  bed,  and  she  occupied  in  sewing,  the  door  was 
softly  opened,  and  an  Indian  entered,  "with  the  stealthy  tread 
peculiar  to  the  moccasined  foot."  He  made  signs  that  he  wanted 
whiskey.  After  going  around  the  house  as  if  in  search  of  the  article, 
followed  by  the  savage,  she  took  up  her  child,  and  making  him 
understand  that  it  was  to  be  had  at  the  neighbor's  house,  motioned 
him  to  follow  her,  and  walked  the  whole  distance  through  the  woods 
with  him  to  the  place  of  safety,  where  she  arrived  breathless  with 
terror  and  agitation. 


374  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

ELIZA  BULL,  afterwards  Mrs.  Sinclair,  visited  the  capital  of  Wis- 
consin in.  1846  or  '47,  and  describes  the  country  as  very  new,  and 
the  society  extremely  limited.  The  scenery  of  the  locality  was  wild 
and  picturesque,  and  from  the  window  of  her  room  at  the  inn  Mrs. 
Bull  could  frequently  see  as  many  as  thirty-six  prairie  fowls  going 
to  roost  in  a  single  tree.  Every  evening  in  the  winter  the  sound  of 
men  stunning  fish  by  striking  on  the  ice  was  plainly  to  be  heard. 
One  large  room  in  the  capitol  was  appropriated  to  public  gatherings 
of  all  descriptions,  and.  in  the  course  of  a  single  week  would  be  used 
for  dancing  assemblies,  public  lectures,  funeral  services,  and  preach- 
ing by  the  Methodist  congregation.  At  the  balls,  the  belle  of  the 
company  was  usually  the  chambermaid  of  the  tavern  which  was  the 
place  of  entertainment,  a  young  lady  of  ash-colored  complexion,  and 
Jocks  of  similar  hue,  whose  fairy  feet  were  graced  with  red  morocco 
boots.  The  party  was  often  enlivened  by  the  presence  of  members 
of  the  legislature.  These,  with  a  respectable  attendance  of  their 
constituents,  shuffled  around  the  room  with  great  energy,  having 
cigars  in  their  mouths,  and  for  the  most  part  wearing  their  hats. 
If  their  boots  or  shoes  were  found  inconvenient  in  their  Terpsicho- 
rean  evolutions,  they  were  kicked  off  without  ceremony,  and  the 
figures  completed  in  stocking-feet.  When  supper  was  ready,  the 
company  rushed  pell-mell  through  a  dark  passage  to  the  "  pro- 
vender," on  which  they  fell  to  work  without  mincing.  • 

Near  Madison  are  four  small  lakes,  beside  one  of  which,  on 
"  Sauk  Prairie,"  then  quite  removed  from  the  neighborhood  of 
civilized  residents,  stood  the  dwelling  of  an  Austrian  named  Haraz- 
thy.  He  was  said  to  be  a  count,  and  his  wife's  manners  indicated 
that  they  had  been  accustomed  to  cultivated  society.  It  was 
rumored  that  his  voluntary  banishment  from  his  country  had  been 
caused  by  political  difficulties,  and  that  he  wished  to  seclude  himself 
from  the  sight  and  society  of  men,  having  been  made  misanthropic 
by  disappointed  ambition.  His  father — who  was  called  a  general, 
and  always  wore  his  military  dress,  came  out  with  the  family.  The 
elder  Mi's.  Harazthy  did  not  long  survive  her  removal,  but  died  of 
very  home  sickness.  The  younger  used  to  relate  how  many  years 


MRS.    HARAZTHY.  375 

before,  a  gipsey  fortune-teller  had  foretold  that  they  would  remove  to 
a  far  country,  and  that  the  count's  mother  would  die  in  their  new 
home.  Mrs.  Sinclair  described  this  foreigner  as  a  fine,  tali  and 
"  rosy-faced"  woman,  with  yery  pleasing  manners,  and  conversation 
made  the  more  interesting  by  her  foreign  accent  and  imperfect  com- 
mand of  English.  For  months  after  her  removal  she  refused  to 
receive  visitors,  but  often  at  twilight  would  sit  at  her  window  look- 
ing out  upon  the  wild  and  strange  scenery,  watching  sometimes 
whole  droves  of  wolves  coming  down  to  the  lake  to  drink.  Her 
family  was  once  startled  in  the  night  by  piercing  cries,  and  found 
at  their  door  a  poor  woman  with  a  child  in  her  arms  ;  she  had  been 
terrified  by  what  she  took  for  signs  of  a  meditated  Indian  attack, 
and  had  run  twelve  miles  barefoot  through  the  snow  to  seek  protec- 
tion, her  husband  being  absent.  Her  alarm  proved  groundless,  but 
she  had  endured  as  much  as  if  flying  from  a  troop  of  enemies.  The 
Austrian  mentioned  kept  a  variety  store  for  the  Indians  and  the 
few  settlers  who  lived  in  that  portion  of  country.  His  log  dwelling- 
house  was  picturesquely  situated  on  the  margin  of  the  lake  and  the 
forest. 


XXII. 

MARY    ANN    RUMSEY. 

THE  perils  and  privations  incident  to  the  occupation  of  the'  lands 
in  Michigan  by  the  first  settlers  were  not,  indeed,  so  terrible  or  so 
romantic  as  those  encountered  at  an  earlier  period,  when  the  adven- 
turous few  who  penetrated  the  wilderness  were  exposed  to  the  fury 
of  a  savage  foe,  and  assaults  far  more  to  be  dreaded  than  those  of 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest.  Yet  the  later  pioneers,  if  they  had 
not  to  dispute  the  possession  of  the  soil  at  the  risk  of  their  lives, 
had  their  trials  and  sufferings — their  dangers  too — not  the  less  dif- 
ficult to  endure  because  the  narration  is  rather  amusing  than  thril- 
ling. They  had  also  to  struggle  with  that  feeling  of  isolation  and 
loneliness  which  presses  heavily  on  those  who  have  severed  all  the 
endearing  ties  of  home,  where  cluster  those  fond  attachments  only 
formed  in  youth.  Many  a  sad  hour  was  passed  in  remembrance 
and  regret  by  the  young  wife  in  the  absence  of  her  husband,  when 
she  had  no  sympathizing  friend  in  whose  bosom  she  could  pour  her 
griefs.  Little  given  to  repining  as  she  might  be,  faithful  to  her 
duties,  and  disposed  to  make  the  best  of  everything,  still  thoughts 
of  the  loved  ones  from  whom  she  had  parted  for  life  would  weigh 
on  her  spirits,  and  fill  her  eyes  with  tears,  brushed  hastily  away 
while  she  busied  herself  about  her  household  employments.  A 
touching  instance  of  the  heart's  yearning  for  companionship  occurs 


MARY    ANN   RtrMSTre.  377 


to  memoiy,  mentioned  by  one  of  the  female  pioneers,  who  had 
bfpn  three  weeks  in  their  new  home  without  having  seen  the  face 
of  another  womar.  "  One  Sunday,"  she  said,  "  I  told  my  husband 
that  beyond  the  thick  wood,  just  in  the  rear  of  our  dwelling,  I  could 
see  from  the  upper  window  another  log  house.  I  wanted  him  to 
go  there  with  me  ;  we  went,  and  as  we  approached  I  saw  the 
woman  come  out,  appearing  to  be  busy  about  something  at  the 
back  door.  That  was  enough  ;  I  did  not  care  to  go  any  further  ; 
we  went  home  ;  I  had  seen  her.  and  that  satisfied  me." 

Ann  Arbor  is  the  county  seat  of  Washtenaw  Count}7.  The  In- 
dian name,  Washtenong,  signifies  "  grand"  or  "  beautiful,"  and  Grand 
River  takes  its  name  from  the  same  word.  Tt  was  called  "Arbor," 
on  account  of  the  noble  aspect  of  the  original  site  of  the  village, 
which  was  a  burr  oak  opening,  resembling  an  arbor  laid  out  and 
cultivated  by  the  hand  of  taste.  For  the  prefix  of  "  Ann,"  it  was 
indebted,  according  to  undeniable  tradition,  to  two  prominent 
women  whose  husbands  were  the  first  purchasers  and  settlers  in  the 
vicinity.  Some  have  maintained  that  the  place  owed  its  entire 
name  to  them,  from  the  fact  that  they  lived,  until  houses  could  be 
built,  in  a  kind  of  rude  arbor  made  by  poles  covered  with  boughs. 
However  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  John  Allen  and  Walter 
Rumsey  gave  the  name  to  the  new  settlement,  afterwards  confirmed 
by  State  authority,  and  ever  since  retained.  Their  first  garden  was 
the  ground  now  occupied  as  the  public  square  ;  and  here  Allen, 
who  had  considerable  skill  in  these  matters,  planted  and  raised  a 
fine  stock  of  vegetables,  enabling  them  to  supply  the  neighbors 
whom  their  persuasions  had  induced  to  join  their  little  community. 
The  two  leaders  above  mentioned  came  in  February,  1824,  Rum- 
sey being  accompanied  by  his  wife.  This  couple  emigrated  from 
some  part  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  has  furnished  so  many 
enterprising  families  among  the  inhabitants  of  Michigan.  Some  of 
the  New  England  stock,  who  were  a  little  proud  of  their  land  of 
the  pilgrims,  were  accustomed  to  say  they  "had  stopped  some  years 
in  the  Stale  of  New  York  on  their  way  to  the  West." 

The  arbor,  or  tent,  which  formed  the  first  shelter  for  this  liltlo 


378  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

party,  and  served  them  as  such  for  two  weeks,  was  made  of  their 
sleigh-box,  with  a  rag  carpet  spread  over  boughs  of  trees,  which 
were  of  course  denuded  of  leaves  ;  for  there  grew  not  an  ever- 
green within  miles,  except  a  few  cedars  on  a  hill  some  two  miles 
from  the  locality.  They  had  brought  with  them  a  few  barrels  of 
provisions  ;  and  as  there  were  no  regular  roads  all  the  way  to 
Detroit,  and  the  travelling  was  tedious  and  difficult,  they  lost  no 
time  in  making  a  treaty  with  the  roving  Indians,  who  agreed  to 
furnish  them  with  regular  supplies  of  corn  and  venison.  On  this 
they  subsisted  while  they  industriously  prepared  the  ground  and 
planted  grain  and  vegetables  to  serve  them  for  the  coming  summer 
and  winter.  "  Ann  Arbor"  had  been  the  favorite  dancing  ground 
of  the  Pottawattomies,  many  families  of  whom  lived  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Their  place  of  council  was  in  the  light  "  opening" 
selected  by  Allen  for  his  garden,  on  which  at  this  time  there  was 
scarcely  a  tree.  Those  that  how  adorn  the  square,  have  been  since 
planted ;  most  of  them  more  than  ten  years  afterwards. 

The  visits  of  the  Indians  were  peaceable  enough,  and  generally 
welcome,  for  they  brought  deer  and  wild  turkeys  to  exchange  for 
other  articles,  game  being  then  abundant  in  the  woods.  Some- 
times, indeed,  when  they  found  none  but  women  at  home,  they 
showed  themselves  a  little  disposed  to  encroach  upon  hospitality. 
Mrs.  Rumsey  confessed  being  frightened  at  one  time  by  their  wild 
behavior ;  but  assuming  a  stern  and  commanding  air,  she  bade 
them  begone,  flourishing  a  broom  at  the  same  time  ;  and  though 
they  could  not  ha^e  been  said  to  be  afraid  of  her  weapon,  they  did  not 
hesitate  to  obey.  All  the  cotemporaries  of  Mrs.  Rumsey  agree  in 
describing  her  as  a  woman  of  remarkable  beauty  and  distinguished 
appearance,  and  of  energetic  character,  singularly  fitted  to  be  a 
useful  pioneer  in  a  new  country  where  difficulties  and  discourage- 
ments must  be  met  with  unflinching  courage,  fortitude,  and  patient 
perseverance.  Her  commanding  aspect — whether  natural  or  the 
result  of  a  habit  of  being  foremost  in  enterprise — was  well  suited 
to  her  qualities  of  determination  and  strength  of  purpose.  Her 
cheerful  disposition,  disregard  of  hardships,  and  resolute  way  of 


MARY    ANN    KTJMSEY.  379 

"  making  the  best  of  everything,"  have  often  been  mentioned  with 
admiration.  "  When  we  had  been  out  land-hunting,"  said  Mr. 
Allen,  "  or  otherwise  engaged  through  the  day,  so  that  we  returned 
late  and  tired  out,  she  was  always  ready  for  us  with  good  humor 
and  a  good  supper"  By  such  aid  and  encouragement  is  it  that 
woman — a  true  help-meet — can  hold  up  man's  hands  and 
strengthen  his  heart  when  disquieted  by  care  and  vexation.  To  be 
enabled  to  appreciate  the  worth  of  such  a  household  companion, 
one  must  have  spent  a  year  at  least  in  the  backwoods.  Experience 
and  necessity  here  furnished  the  best  kind  of  education,  fitting  for 
the  endurance  of  every  trial,  and  the  thorough  enjoyment  of  the 
labor-bought  pleasures  which  are  relished  most  keenly  when  alter- 
nated with  privations. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  months  other  families  moved  into  the 
neighborhood;  and  on  the  succeeding  Fourth  of  July  (1824),  there 
was  a  joyous  celebration  of  the  nation's  birthday.  The  anniversary 
falling  on  a  Sunday,  it  was  kept  on  Monday,  having  been  celebrated 
the  Saturday  before  at  "  Woodruffs  Grove,"  near  the  site  of  the 
present  village  of  Ypsilanti.  About  forty  guests,  among  whom 
were  the  women  of  course,  sat  down  to  partake  of  the  rustic  dinner. 
It  was  either  on  this  occasion,  or  on  the  anniversary  following,  cele- 
brated also  at  Ann  Arbor,  that  the  family  of  Mr.  White,  one  of  the 
"  neighbors,"  were  put  to  much  inconvenience  by  the  escape  of  their 
oxen ;  which  calamity  imposed  on  them  the  necessity  of  walking 
home  in  terror,  for  the  distant  howling  of  wolves  could  be  heard  all 
the  way.  At  the  assemblage  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1825,  tho 
white  inhabitants  of  the  county  were  present  in  mass — forty  or  fifty 
in  all. 

The  howling  of  wolves  was  a  species  of  nocturnal  music  often 
listened  to  by  the  pioneers  of  Michigan.  A  lady  who  removed 
there  many  years  later,  says  that  on  moonlight  evenings  they 
often  stood  to  hear  their  howling,  some  three  miles  distant,  answered 
by  the  barking  of  their  dogs.  The  sound  was  distinct,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  much  nearer.  In  the  early  settlement  of  the  country, 
a  woman  going  one  day  to  the  spring  for  water,  saw,  as  she  sup- 


380  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE    WEST. 

posed,  the  dog  belonging  to  the  family  drinking,  and  finding 
that  he  did  not  get  out  of  the  way  as  she  came  up,  struck  him 
with  her  pail,  which  she  then  filled  and  carried  back  to  the  house. 
There  she  saw  the  dog  lying  quietly  under  the  bed,  and  a  sudden 
flash  of  recollection  convinced  her  that  she  had  seen  a  wolf  at  the 
spring.  She  roused  the  men,  and  the  animal  was  pursued  and 
killed.  Notwithstanding  the  cowardice  of. the  gray  wolf,  it  was 
always,  especially  in  packs,  a  terror  to  the  women  of  the  country. 
Other  wild  beasts  were  disposed  to  dispute  with  man  the  possession 
,of  their  forest  domain.  A  young  woman  in  Livingston  County, 
standing  one  day  outside  her  "  shanty,"  fancied  she  heard  a  crack- 
ling in  the  boughs  of  the  tree  above  her,  and  looking  up,  caught 
the  eyes  of  a  panther  glaring  upon  her,  as  the  animal  was  prepar- 
ing for  a  fatal  spring.  With  a  presence  of  mind  which  the  habit 
of  looking  danger  in  the  face  alone  could  give,  she  stepped  cau- 
tiously backward,  still  keeping  her  eyes  steadily  fixed  on  the  crea- 
ture, and  slipping  behind  the  blanket  which  served  for  a  door,  took 
down  her  husband's  rifle,  which  was  kept  loaded  and  ready  for  use. 
Lifting  a  corner  of  the  blanket,  she  deliberately  took  aim  and  fired ; 
the  shot  took  effect,  and  the  panther  fell  to  the  ground  in  the  death- 
struggle. 

In  the  eyes  of  her  neighbors,  Mrs.  Eumsey  was  a  prominent 
female  member  of  the  community  ;  for  such  qualities  of  mind,  in  a 
primitive  state  of  society,  never  fail  to  exercise  a  controlling  influ- 
ence. Something  of  romance,  too,  was  added  to  the  interest  sur- 
rounding her.  It  was  said — though  it  might  have  been  mere 
gossip — that  her  early  life  had  been  clouded  by  unhappiness  con- 
sequent upon  an  ill-assorted  marriage,  and  that  she  had  little  to 
i*egret  in  the  years  passed  in  her  former  home.  Little  was  known 
of  her  story,  for  she  never  showed  herself  inclined  to  be  communi- 
cative on  the  subject,  and  the  intuitive  delicacy  of  her  associates  for- 
bade their  scrutiny  into  what  plainly  did  not  concern  them.  Those 
were  not  the  days  withal  when  news  travelled  on  the  wings  of  the 
wind,  or  with  the  flash  of  the  lightning ;  and  if  there  had  been 
aught  in  the  experience  of  former  years  which  she  did  not  wish  to 


MAKY   ANN    RUMSEY.  381 

recall,  Mrs.  Rumsey  was  in  no  danger  of  having  it  snatched  from 
the  friendly  keeping  of  the  past,  and  paraded  before  the  curious 
gaze  of  the  public.  So  the  mystery  about  her  remained  unfathom- 
ed,  as  she  did  not  choose  to  explain  it.  Her  circumstances  at  that 
time  were  comfortable,  and  happy  in  her  round  of  duties,  it  did 
not  appear  that  she  suffered  her  thoughts  to  dwell  on  the  past, 
though  once,  in  a  moment  of  great  distress,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
sudden  death  of  a  beloved  child,  she  let  fall  expressions  which  set 
afloat  the  conjectures  of  her  neighbors,  and  awakened  curiosity 
which  was  never  fully  satisfied.  She  was  not,  however,  the  less 
respected  on  that  account.  In  the  first  stages  of  society,  when  no 
artificial  distinctions  are  recognized,  and  social  intercourse  is  unre- 
stricted by  form,  the  standing  of  individuals  is  seldom  questioned 
if  they  prove  useful  and  agreeable.  Mr.  Rumsey  died  at  Ann 
Arbor,  and  his  widow  afterwards  married  a  Mr.  Van  Fossen,  and 
removed  to  Indiana,  where  she  died. 

The  first  sleighs  used  by  these  primitive  settlers  were  made  by 
bending  two  poles,  which  served  for  runners,  a  crate  for  the  box 
surmounting  them.  The  large  double  sleigh  was  an  improvement 
pertaining  to  a  more  advanced  stage.  Before  grain  could  be  raised 
it  was  often  necessary,  notwithstanding  the  aid  of  their  Indian  allies, 
to  go  to  Detroit  to  procure  flour — a  journey  which  usually  con- 
sumed a  week.  Whenever  it  had  to  be  performed,  the  labor  of 
every  man  in  the  settlement  was  in  requisition  to  put  the  roads  in 
order.  In  one  case,  when  the  head  of  a  family  was  detained  two  or 
three  weeks  by  some  accident  at  the  mill,  the  wife  dug  ground-nuts 
and  picked  up  every  other  edible  thing  that  could  furnish  food  for 
herself  and  children.  Another  woman  who  was  reduced  to  her  last 
biscuit,  declared  laughingly  that  she  would  not  have  it  said  they 
ever  were  out  of  bread  in  her  western  home,  and  had  the  biscuit 
placed  every  day  on  the  table  for  a  fortnight,  till  new  supplies  came. 
Game,  particularly  venison,  was  plenty  in  those  days,  and  some  of 
the  settlers,  who  were  excellent  hunters,  killed  enough  for  the  use 
of  their  families  and  for  the  demands  of  hospitality. 


382  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

The  second  "  Ann,"  who  gave  the  village  of  Ann  Arbor  its  name, 
came  to  Michigan  in  October,  1824,  with  the  parents  of  her  hus- 
band, and  his  brother,  James  Turner  Allen,  who  has  ever  since  re- 
sided there  and  'raised  a  large  family.  The  Aliens  were  from 
Augusta  county  in  Virginia,  and  well  to  do  in  the  world ;  they 
brought  several  horses  and  other  stock  with  them,  a  useful  accession 
to  the  means  of  the  little  settlement.  The  women  performed 
nearly  all  the  journey  on  horseback,  Ann  Allen  carrying  her  infant 
child  in  her  arms.  This  child  is  now  the  wife  of  Dr.  Waddell,  arid 
is  living  in  Virginia.  Mrs.  Allen  entered  with  a  ready  spirit  of 
enterprise  into  the  laborious  duties  required  of  the  wife  of  a  settler. 
As  the  community  increased,  her  husband  was  called  to  fill  official 
stations  of  importance.  He  was  afterwards  twice  elected  Senator  to 
the  legislature,  but  the  roving  habits  of  his  early  life,  like  those  of 
Daniel  Boone,  were  in  the  way  of  his  living  contented  in  a  settle- 
ment that  could  no  longer  be  termed  "  wild,"  when  lands  further 
west  were  yet  unexplored.  He  went  to  California  when  the  gold 
fever  was  at  its  height,  and  died  there. 

His  widow  returned  to  Virginia.  Her  bearing  and  manners  were 
those  of  a  well-bred  lady ;  uniformly  gentle  and  quiet,  and  marked 
by  the  ease  and  refinement  which  evince  habitual  acquaintance  with 
good  society.  Her  maiden  name  was  Barry ;  she  was  left  an  orphan 
at  an  early  age,  and  sent  to  Ireland  to  be  reared  under  the  care  of 
a  maiden  aunt.  Her  education  was  completed  at  Baltimore,  under 
the  charge  of  her  maternal  uncle,  Mr.  Keim.  She  was  quite  an 
heiress,  and  was  married  first  to  Dr.  McCue,  of  Virginia.  Her 
many  admirable  qualities  and  winning  traits  of  character,  are 
remembered  by  all  her  former  neighbors  in  the  village. 

Elizabeth  Allen,  her  mother-in-law,  still  lives  at  Ann  Arbor. 
The  character  of  this  excellent  matron,  who  is  often  described  as  the 
ideal  of  a  pioneer,  is  so  remarkable  as  to  call  for  a  brief  notice. 
Coming  so  early  to  the  backwoods,  she  had  to  encounter  not  a  few 
dangers  as  well  as  inconveniencies  from  the  frequent  visits  of 
savages,  as  yet  not  used  to  the  sight  of  civilization.  In  her  youth 
she  was  eminently  handsome,  and  even  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 


ELIZABETH    ALLEN.  383 

retains  a  most  prepossessing  appearance,  having  a  tall  and  symme- 
trical figure,  but  slightly  bent,  with  a  complexion  showing  the 
freshness  of  habitual  health.  Hers  was  a  proud  and  happy  bridal 
in  the  Old  Dominion,  and  she  was  fondly  attached  to  the  country 
where  her  best  years  had  been  spent  *,  but  she  murmured  not  when 
it  became  her  duty  to  follow  her  husband  to  a  distant  land.  He 
now  lies  buried  near  the  spot  he  chose  for  his  home,  with  many 
relatives  around  him ;  and  by  the  widow's  direction,  a  place  beside 
him  is  reserved  for  her.  Her  religious  faith,  always  sound  and 
bright — for  she  had  made  it  the  staff  and  guide  of  life — has  been 
strengthened  by  the  chastening  sorrow  she  has  been  called  to 
endure  ;  and  the  humility  with  which  she  has  submitted  to  every 
painful  dispensation,  offers  a  salutary  lesson  both  to  the  afflicted  and 
the  prosperous.  She  has  always  been  noted  for  the  strong  practical 
sense  which  fits  its  possessor  for  every  event  and  vicissitude,  in  every 
station  of  life ;  yet  is  her  heart  open  and  kind,  her  benevolent  im- 
pulses withal  being  regulated  at  all  times  by  sterling  judgment. 
She  is  one  of  those  persons  of  whom  it  can  be  said,  "  Place  her  in 
any  situation,  and  she  will  appear  well." 

In  her  reminiscences  of  those  early  days,  Mrs.  Allen  often  speaks 
of  two  young  women  in  particular,  who  did  much  to  enliven  the 
society  of  the  place.  One  of  them,  Miss  Hopy  Johnson,  undertook 
the  charge  of  the  school  kept  in  a  small  log  house,  to  which  she 
was  frequently  obliged  to  walk  quite  a  distance  from  down  the  river. 
The  exposure  in  all  weathers,  and  with  but  indifferent  protection 
against  the  cold  and  wet,  injured  her  health,  and  one  evening  she 
informed  the  school  she  should  not  be  able  to  teach  any  longer. 
James,  one  of  Mrs.  Allen's  grandchildren,  then  under  her  care,  came 
running  home,  so  out  of  breath  that  he  could  hardly  speak,  and 
entreated  his  grandmamma  to  take  the  teacher  to  live  in  her  house. 
She  promised  to  decide  after  consulting  her  husband,  who  was  then 
busily  engaged  in  making  "  Michigan  bedsteads"  of  tamarack  poles 
stripped  of  the  bark.  Plenty  of  beds  had  been  brought  from  Vir- 
ginia ;  but  some  arrangement  might  be  necessary  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  another  inmate.  However,  the  child's  entreaty  was  so 


384:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    \VEST. 

urgent  for  an  answer  before  Miss  Johnson  should  have  dismissed 
her  pupils  and  gone  home,  that  his  grandmother  bade  him  "  tell 
her  she  may  come  and  take  us  as  she  finds  us."  He  ran  back 
delighted,  and  presently  returned  with  the  teacher,  so  grateful  for 
the  offer  of  a  home  which  enabled  her  to  continue  her  beloved  occu- 
pation, that  when  the  little  boy  led  her  in  with — "  Grandmamma, 
here  is  Miss  Johnson,"  she  sank  upon  a  seat  and  wept  for  joy.  This 
little  incident  throws  an  interesting  light  on  the  manners  of  that 
day.  When  asked  how  they  enjoyed  life  in  the  privation  of  so 
many  comforts  and  of  the  society  of  old  friends,  Mrs.  Allen  would 
reply  :  "  We  were  all  brothers  and  sisters  then.  When  my  son 
Turner  was  married,  he  said, '  You  have  always  given  the  other 
children  a  good  wedding ;  I  want  you  to  do  as  well  by  me  ;?  and  so 
we  invited  everybody  in  the  village,  and  had  as  good  a  supper  as 
could  be  got  up." 

True  to  the  habits  of  a  matron  of  the  olden  time,  Mrs.  Allen  has 
always  shown  a  delicate  sense  of  propriety  in  her  deportment  and 
conversation.  She  looks  back  with  some  pride  to  the  days  of  her 
bellehood,  and  speaks  occasionally  of  the  sixteen  offers  received  before 
she  was  eighteen  ;  but  with  her  characteristic  regard  for  decorum,  tells 
of  the  reproof  she  once  administered  to  one  over  forward  suitor.  In 
the  mountainous  parts  of  Virginia,  where  carriages  were  but  little 
used,  the  men  and  women  were. accustomed  to  travel  altogether  on 
horseback.  Miss  Tate  (afterwards  Mrs.  Allen)  was  one  day  in  at- 
tendance at  a  funeral,  after  the  conclusion  of  which  the  newly 
bereaved  widower  rode  up  to  the  side  of  her  horse,  and  to  her 
extreme  surprise,  expressed  a  wish  that  she  might  be  induced  to  con- 
sent to  fill  the  place  of  the  dear  departed  one  whose  mortal  remains 
had  just  been  laid  in  the  grave.  The  young  lady  regarded  him 
with  astonishment  and  displeasure,  and  sternly  forbade  him  to  name 
that  subject  to  her  again  under  a  year.  Just  a  year  from  that  day 
he  proposed  in  due  form,  and  was  rejected ! 

Mrs.  Allen  is  accustomed  to  express  herself  at  all  times  in  a  man- 
ner so  forcible  and  decisive,  and  at  the  same  time  with  so  much  dig- 
nity, as  to  evince  talent  of  no  ordinary  kind.  Frequently  her 


ELIZABETH    ALLEN.  385 

language  rises  almost  to  the  poetical,  without  the  least  design 
of  ornamental  expression.  Speaking  of  a  grandchild  who  was 
extremely  cold  in  her  manner,  she  said,  "  I  loved  her  much,  that  is, 
all  she  would  let  me  get  at  to  love."  At  another  time,  when  a 
young  mother,  showing  her  little  daughter,  apologized  for  the  dirt 
on  her  hands,  as  she  had  been  playing  in  a  sand  heap,  the 
matron  replied,  "  It  will  do  her  no  harm ;  there  is  always  rain 
enough  in  the  heavens  to  wash  such  clean ;"  thus  unconsciously 
using  a  phrase  nearly  identical  with  the  words  of  Shakspeare,  a  poet 
with  whom  she  was  by  no  means  familiar.  Being  once  asked  if  she 
had  not  reared  a  large  family,  she  answered,  "  Oh,  no,  I  have  only 
had  seven  children.  I  laid  out  to  have  no  less  than  a  dozen  ;  but  the 
grandchildren  left  motherless  whom  I  have  brought  up,  perhaps 
make  out  the  number."  She  has  reared  five  of  these,  and  has  lived 
to  see  the  third  generation. 

There  was  a  single  piano  in  the  settlement,  owned  by  a  Miss 
Clark,  now  Mrs.  Kingsley ;  and  seldom  did  she  touch  the  keys 
without  unexpected  listeners.  Often,  as  a  shadow  darkened  the 
window,  could  she  observe  the  form  of  a  Pottawattomie  Indian,  ac- 
companied perhaps  by  two  or  three  squaws  with  their  papooses. 
This  patriarch  of  pianos  is  still  extant,  and  stands  as  prim  as  ever 
upon  its  thin  legs,  a  type  amongst  the  scores  that  have  succeeded  it, 
of  a  bygone  age,  and  representing  something  of  the  stately  polite- 
ness and  formal  breeding  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  its  own 
date. 

Some,  with  an  obstinately  rustic  taste,  seemed  to  prefer  the  rudest 
articles  of  furniture  used  in  the  infancy  of  the  settlement,  to 
the  modern  improvements  afterwards  introduced.  A  housewife  in 
Michigan,  finding  the  men  of  her  establishment  too  busy  clearing  to 
lend  her  much  aid,  set  about  contriving  a  press  in  which  she  could 
make  cheese.  She  succeeded  in  making  one  in  the  corner  of  a  rail 
fence ;  and  it  was  observed  that,  thrifty  as  she  was,  she  could  not 
be  induced  without  great  reluctance,  to  exchange  this  press  of 
her  own  contrivance  for  one  of  more  pretension,  though  adopted 
and  praised  by  all  her  neighbors. 
17 


386  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

Among  the  privations  of  the  early  settlers,  not  the  least  was  the 
difficulty  of  hearing  from  the  friends  they  had  left  at  "  the  East." 
Not  only  were  the  mails  slow  and  uncertain,  but  the  postage 
of  a  letter  was  twenty-five  cents ;  a  fourth  of  a  man's  pay  for  a  hard 
day's  work.  So  expensive  a  treat  could  not  be  often  indulge!  in, 
and  accordingly  it  seldom  happened  that  more  than  one  or  two 
letters  were  exchanged  in  the  course  of  a  'year  by  a  single  emi- 
grant family. 

The  burning  of  the  marshes  often  running  far  into  the  upland, 
which  was  done  every  year  by  the  Indians  and  old  hunters, 
was  sometimes  attended  by  accidents,  the  fire  extending  to  the  open- 
ing and  overrunning  the  land  to  the  destruction  of  oak-grubs 
and  tall  trees.  An  enterprising  ancLindustrious  young  emigrant  had 
built  a  comfortable  house  in  a  pleasant  opening  for  himself 
and  his  sisters,  one  of  whom  had  charge  of  it.  One  day  while  she 
was  alone,  the  brother  being  absent  on  business,  she  discovered  that 
the  grass  was  on  fire,  and  that  the  devouring  element  was  rapidly 
approaching.  All  her  efforts  were  bent  to  keep  it  from  the  premises  ; 
but  finding  she  could  do  nothing  to  check  its  progress,  and  that  the 
outhouses  were  in  imminent  danger,  she  ran  to  the  door  of 
her  dwelling  for  her  bonnet,  threw  in  her  apron  which  she 
pulled  off  hastily  from  a  woman's  instinctive  impulse  of  neatness, 
and  without  looking  back,  hurried  to  the  nearest  neighbor's, 
some  three  miles  off,  for  assistance.  As  soon  as  possible  she 
returned  with  help ;  but  they  were  greeted  by  a  melancholy  sight. 
The  burning  of  the  grass,  it  was  evident,  had  not  expended  to  the 
house ;  but  the  building  was  in  flames,  and  past'  the  hope  of  saving 
even  an  article  of  furniture.  The  poor  girl  then  discovered  that  the 
fire  must  have  originated  from  her  apron,  which  probably  concealed 
a  spark  when  she  threw  it  in ;  and  thus  she  had  the  chagrin  of 
knowing  that  her  very  eagerness  had  been  the  means  of  depriving 
herself  and  family  of  the  only  shelter  they  could  call  their  own. 

The  mention  of  fire  reminds  us  of  another  curious  anecdote 
recorded  in  the  annals  of  Detroit.  There  was  at  one  time  a  town 
ordinance  that  every  house  should  be  provided  with  a  butt  of  water 


ANECDOTES.  387 

for  use  in  case  of  fire,  the  owner  being  subject  to  a  fine  in  case  of  dis- 
obedience. A  widow  whose  neglect  had  been  passed  over  several 
times  by  the  inspectors,  one  day  saw  them  coining  on  their  usual 
errand,  and  resolved  that  they  should  not  have  it  to  say  they 
had  found  her  cask  empty,  jumped  into  it  herself.  The  stratagem 
so  pleased  the  men  that,  laughing  heartily,  they  fetched  water  and 
filled  the  butt  for  her. 

Some  other  incidents  illustrative  of  the  times,  are  mentioned  by 
the  old  settlers.  One  tells  how  a  large  sleighing  party  went  at  night 
to  Dexter,  and  how  Judge  Dexter  figured  as  a  seer,  and  told  the 
fortunes  of  the  company.  They  were  very  merry  returning,  though 
it  was  near  morning,  and  intensely  cold.  A  sudden  breakdown 
took  place,  and  one  of  the  gentlemen  was  obliged  to  go  back  some 
distance  to  borrow  an  axe  to  repair  the  damage.  Those  left  waiting, 
fearing  that  without  some  precaution  they  should  perish  with  cold, 
spread  the  buffalo  skins  on  the  hard  snow,  and  had  a  lively 
dance  upon  them ;  till  the  sleigh  being  mended,  they  returned  to 
Ann  Arbor  without  further  hindrance. 

The  inhabitants  of  Detroit  may  remember  a  remarkable  old 
woman,  Mi's.  Ohappel  by  name,  a  true  "  Betty  O'Flanagan," 
who  followed  in  the  rear  of  Wayne's  army,  and  afterwards  kept  push- 
ing away  from  civilization.  At  the  time  my  informant  knew  her, 
she  kept  a  small  tavern  on  the  Pontiac  turnpike,  much  resorted  to 
by  the  young  men  of  the  town,  it-  being  just  distant  enough  for  a 
pleasant  ride.  As  the  hostess  was  very  homely,  they  were  ac- 
customed to  call  her  in  jest  "  Old  Mother  Handsome ;"  listening 
often  to  the  reminiscences  with  which  she  was  wont  to  interlard  her 
preparations  for  supper.  When  grumbling  at  the  trouble  given  her, 
she  would  declare  that  she  should  have  been  better  off  had  "  Mad 
Anthony"  lived.  She  would  have  been  a  fine  character  for  a 
romance,  and  deserves  more  than  a  mere  mention,  as  a  representative 
of  the  spirit  of  her  day  among  the  ruder  class  of  settlers. 


XXIII. 

HARRIET    L.    NOBLE. 

IN  1824  there  was  almost  as  great  an  excitement  in  Western  New 
York  about  going  to  Michigan  as  there  has  been  recently  in  regard 
to  California.  One  of  those  enterprising  settlers,  the  wife  of  Nathaniel 
Noble,  has  favored  me  with  some  of  her  recollections,  which  present 
a  graphic  picture  of  early  times  in  this  State.  No  language  could 
be  so  appropriate  as  her  own. 

"  My  husband  was  seized  with  the  mania,  and  accordingly  made 
preparation  to  start  in  January  with  his  brother.  They  took  the 
Ohio  route,  and  were  nearly  a  month  in  getting  through ;  coming  by 
way  of  Monroe,  and  thence  to  Ypsilanti  and  Ann  Arbor.  Mr.  John 
Allen  and  Walter  Rumsey  with  his  wife  and  two  men  had  been 
there  some  four  or  five  weeks,  had  built  a  small  house,  moved  into 
it  the  day  my  husband  and  his  brother  arrived,  and  were  just  pre- 
paring their  first  meal,  which  the  newcomers  had  the  pleasure 
of  partaking.  They  spent  a  few  days  here,  located  a  farm  a  little 
above  the  town  on  the  river  Huron,  and  returned  through  Canada. 
They  had  been  so  much  pleased  with  the  country,  that  they  imme- 
diately commenced  preparing  to  emigrate ;  and  as  near  as  I  can 
recollect,  we  started  about  the  20th  of  September,  1824,  for 
Michigan.  We  travelled  from  our  house  in  Geneva  to  Buffalo  in 
wagons.  The  roads  were  bad,  and  we  were  obliged  to  wait  in 


HARRIET    L.     NOBLE.  389 

Buffalo  four  days  for  a  boat,  as  the  steamboat  *  Michigan'  was  the 
only  one  on  the  lake.  After  waiting  so  long  we  found  she  had  put 
into  Erie  for  repairs,  and  had  no  prospect  of  being  able  to  run  again 
for  some  time.  The  next  step  was  to  take  passage  in  a  schooner, 
which  was  considered  a  terrible  undertaking  for  so  dangerous  a 
voyage  as  it  was  then  thought  to  be.  At  length  we  went  on  board 
1  the  Prudence,'  of  Cleveland,  Capt.  Johnson.  A  more  inconve- 
nient little  bark  could  not  well  be  imagined.  We  were  seven  days 
on  Lake  Erie,  and  so  entirely  prostrated  with  seasickness,  as 
scarcely  to  be  able  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  our  little  ones.  I  had 
a  little  girl  of  three  years,  and  a  babe  some  months  old,  and 
Sister  Noble  had  six  children,  one  an  infant.  It  was  a  tedious 
voyage  ;  the  lake  was  very  rough  most  of  the  time,  and  I  thought 
if  we  were  only  on  land  again,  I  should  be  satisfied,  if  it  was  a 
wilderness.  I  could  not  then  realize  what  it  would  be  to  live  with- 
out a  comfortable  house  through  the  winter,  but  sad  experience 
afterwards  taught  me  a  lesson  not  to  be  forgotten. 

"  We  came  into  the  Detroit  river  ;  it  was  beautiful  then  as  now; 
on  the  Canada  s'nle,  in  particular,  you  will  scarce  perceive  any 
change.  As  we  approached  Detroit,  the  '  Cantonment'  with  the 
American  flag  floating  on  its  walls,  was  decidedly  the  most  interest- 
ing of  any  part  of  the  town  ;  for  a  city  it  was  certainly  the  most 
filthy,  irregular  place  I  had  ever  seen ;  the  streets  were  filled  with 
Indians  and  low  French,  and  at  that  time  I  could  not  tell  the  difference 
between  them.  We  spent  two  days  in  making  preparations  for 
going  out  to  Ann  Arbor,  and  during  that  time  I  never  saw  a  gen- 
teelly-dressed person  in  the  streets.  There  were  no  carriages  ;  the 
most  wealthy  families  rode  in  French  carts,  sitting  on  the  bottom 
upon  some  kind  of  mat ;  and  the  streets  were  so  muddy  these  were 
the  only  vehicles  convenient  for  getting  about.  I  said  to  myself,  '  if 
this  be  a  Western  city,  give  me  a  home  in  the  woods.'  I  think  it 
was  on  the  3d  of  October  we  started  from  Detroit,  with  a  pair  of 
oxen  and  a  wagon,  a  few  articles  for  cooking,  and  such  necessaries 
as  we  could  not  do  without.  It  was  necessary*  that  they  should  be 
few  as  possible,  for  our  families  were  a  full  load  for  this  mode  of 


390  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

travelling.  After  travelling  all  day  we  found  ourselves  but  ten 
miles  from  Detroit  (at  what  is  now  Dearborn)  ;  here  we  spent  the 
night  at  a  kind  of  tavern,  the  only  one  west  of  the  city.  Our  lodg- 
ing was  the  floor,  and  the  other  entertainment  was  to  match.  The 
next  day  we  set  out  as  early  as  possible,  in  hopes  to  get  through 
the  woods  before  dark,  but  night  found  us  about  half  way  through, 
and  there  remained  no  other  resource  but  to  camp  out,  and  make 
ourselves  contented.  The  men  built  a  large  fire  and  prepared  our 
supper.  My  sister  and  myself  could  assist  but  little,  so  fatigued 
were  we  with  walking  and  carrying  our  infants.  There  were  fifteen 
in  our  company.  Two  gentlemen  going  to  Ypsilanti  had  travelled 
with  us  from  Buffalo  ;  the  rest  were  our  own  families.  We  were 
all  pretty  cheerful,  until  we  began  to  think  of  lying  down  for  the 
night.  The  men  did  not  seem  to  dread  it,  however,  and  were  soon  fast 
asleep,  but  sleep  was  not  for  me  in  such  a  wilderness.  I  could 
think  of  nothing  but  wild  beasts,  or  something  as  bad ;  so  that  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  watching  while  the  others  slept.  It  seemed  a  long, 
long  night,  and  never  in  my  life  did  I  feel  more  grateful  for  the 
blessing  of  returning  day.  We  started  again  as  early  as  possible, 
all  who  could  walk  moving  on  a  little  in  advance  of  the  wagon  ;  the 
small  children  were  the  only  ones  who  thought  of  riding.  Every 
few  rods  it  would  take  two  or  three  men  to  pry  the  wagon  out  of 
the  mud,  while  those  who  walked  were  obliged  to  force  their  way  over 
fallen  timber,  brush,  &c.  Thus  passed  the  day  ;  at  night  we  found 
ourselves  on  the  plains,  three  miles  from  Ypsilanti.  My  feet  were 
so  swollen  I  could  walk  no  further.  We  got  into  the  wagon  and 
rode  as  far  as  Woodruff's  grove,  a  little  below  Ypsilanti.  There 
were  some  four  or  five  families  at  this  place.  The  next  day  we  left 
for  Ann  Arbor.  We  were  delighted  with  the  country  before  us ;  it 
was  beautiful  in  its  natural  state  ;  and  I  have  sometimes  thought 
that  cultivation  has  marred  its  loveliness.  Where  Ypsilanti  now* 
stands,  there  was  but  one  building — an  old  trading-house  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river  ;  the  situation  was  fine — there  were  scattering 
oaks  and  no  brushwood.  Here  we  met  a  large  number  of  Indians ; 
and  one  old  squaw  followed  us  some  distance  with  her  papoose, 


HARRIET   L.    NOBLE.  391 

determined  to  swap  babies.  At  last  she  gave  it  up,  and  for  one  I 
felt  relieved. 

"  We  passed  two  log  houses  between  this  and  Ann  Arbor. 
About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  we  found  ourselves  at  our  jour- 
ney's end — but  what  a  prospect  ?  There  were  some  six  or  seven  log 
huts  occupied  by  as  many  inmates  as  could  be  crowded  into  them.  It 
was  too  much  to  think  of  asking  strangers  to  give  us  a  place  to  stay 
in  even  for  one  night  under  such  circumstances.  Mr.  John  Allen 
himself  made  us  the  offer  of  sharing  with  him  the  comfort  of  a 
shelter  from  storm,  if  not  from  cold.  His  house  was  large  for  a  log 
one,  but  quite  unfinished ;  there  was  a  ground  floor  and  a  small 
piece  above.  When  we  got  our  things  stored  in  this  place,  we 
found  the  number  sheltered  to  be  twenty-one  women  and  children, 
and  fourteen  men.  There  were  but  two  bedsteads  in  the  house, 
and  those  who  could  not  occupy  these,  slept  on  feather  beds  upon 
the  floor.  When  the  children  were  put  in  bed  you  could  not  set  a 
foot  down  without  stepping  on  a  foot  or  hand ;  the  consequence 
was  we  had  music  most  of  the  time. 

"  We  cooked  our  meals  in  the  open  air,  there  being  no  fire  in 
the  house  but  a  small  box-stove.  The  fall  winds  were  not  very 
favorable  to  such  business  ;  we  would  frequently  find  our  clothes  on 
fire,  but  fortunately  we  did  not  often  get  burned.  When  one  meal 
was  over,  however,  we  dreaded  preparing  the  next.  We  lived  in 
this  way  until  our  husbands  got  a  log  house  raised  and  the  roof  on  ; 
this  took  them  about  six  weeks,  at  the  end  of  which  time  we  went 
into  it,  without  door,  floor,  chimney,  or  anything  but  logs  and  roof. 
There  were  no  means  of  getting  boards  for  a  floor,  as  everything 
must  be  brought  from  Detroit,  and  we  could  not  think  of  drawing 
lumber  over  such  a  road.  The  only  alternative  was  to  split  slabs 
of  oak  with  an  axe.  My  husband  was  not  a  mechanic,  but  he  man- 
aged to  make  a  floor  in  this  way  that  kept  us  from  the  ground. 
I  was  most  anxious  for  a  door,  as  the  wolves  would  come  about  in 
the  evening,  and  sometimes  stay  all  night  and  keep  up  a  serenade 
that  would  almost  chill  the  blood  in  my  veins.  Of  all  noises  I  think 
the  howling  of  wolves  and  the  yell  of  Indians  the  most  fearful  ;  at 


392  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

least  it  appeared  so  to  me  then,  when  I  was  not  able  to  close  the 
door  against  them.  I  had  the  greatest  terror  of  Indians  ;  for  I  had 
never  seen  any  before  I  came  to  Michigan  but  Oneidas,  and  they 
were  very  different,  being  partially  civilized. 

"  We  had  our  house  comfortable  as  such  a  rude  building  could 
be,  by  the  first  of  February.  It  was  a  mild  winter ;  there  was 
snow  enough,  to  cover  the  ground  only  four  days,  a  fortunate 
circumstance  for  us.  We  enjoyed  uninterrupted  health,  but  in  the 
spring  the  ague  with  its  accompaniments  gave  us  a  call,  and  by 
the  middle  of  August  there  were  but  four  out  of  fourteen  who  could 
call  themselves  well.  We  then  fancied  we  were  too  near  the  river 
for  health.  We  sold  out  and  bought  again  ten  miles  west  of  Ann 
Arbor,  a  place  which  suited  us  better ;  and  just  a  year  from  the 
day  we  came  to  Ann  Arbor,  moved  out  of  it  to  Dexter.  There 
was  one  house  here,  Judge  Dexter's ;  he  was  building  a  saw- 
mill, and  had  a  number  of  men  at  work  at  the  time  ;  besides  these 
there  was  not  a  white  family  west  of  Ann  Arbor  in  Michigan  terri- 
tory. Our  log  house  was  just  raised,  forming  only  the  square  log 
pen.  Of  course  it  did  not  look  very  inviting,  but  it  was  our  home, 
and  we  must  make  the  best  of  it.  I  helped  to  raise  the  rafters  and 
put  on  the  roof,  but  it  was  the  last  of  November  before  our  roof  was 
completed.  We  were  obliged  to  wait  for  the  mill  to  run  in  order 
to  get  boards  for  making  it.  The  doorway  I  had  no  means  of 
closing  except  by  hanging  up  a  blanket,  and  frequently  when  I 
would  raise  it  to  step  out,  there  would  be  two  or  three  of  our  dusky 
neighbors  peeping  in  to  see  what  was  there.  It  would  always  give 
me  such  a  start,  I  could  not  suppress  a  scream,  to  which  they  would 
reply  with  l  Ugh  !'  and  a  hearty  laugh.  They  knew  I  was  afraid, 
and  liked  to  torment  me.  Sometimes  they  would  throng  the  house 
and  stay  two  or  three  hours.  If  I  was  alone  they  would  help  them- 
selves to  what  they  liked.  The  only  way  in  which  I  could  restrain 
them  at  all,  was  to  threaten  that  I  would  tell  Cass  ;  he  was  governor 
of  the  territory,  and  they  stood  in  great  fear  of  him.  At  last  we  got 
a  door.  The  next  thing  wanted  was  a  chimney  ;  winter  was  close 
at  hand  and  the  stone  was  not  drawn.  I  said  to  my  husband,  '  I 


HARRIET   L.    NOBLE.  393 

think  I  can  drive  the  oxen  and  draw  the  stones,  while  you  dig  them 
from  the  ground  and  load  them.'  lie  thought  I  could  not,  but 
consented  to  let  me  try.  He  loaded  them  on  a  kind  of  sled ;  I 
drove  to  the  house,  rolled  them  off,  and  drove  back  for  another  load. 
I  succeeded  so  well  that  we  got  enough  in  this  way  to  build  our 
chimney.  My  Husband  and  myself  were  four  days  building  it.  I 
suppose  most  of  my  lady  friends  would  think  a  woman  quite  out  of 
'  her  legitimate  sphere'  in  turning  mason,  but  I  was  not  at  all  par- 
ticular what  kind  of  labor  I  performed,  so  we  were  only  comfortable 
and  provided  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  Many  times  I  had  been 
obliged  to  lake  my  children,  put  on  their  cloaks,  and  sit  on  the 
south  side  of  the  house  in  the  sun  to  keep  them  warm  ;  anything 
was  preferable  to  smoke.  When  we  had  a  chimney  and  floor,  and 
a  door  to  close  up  our  little  log  cabin,  I  have  often  thought  it  the 
most  comfortable  little  place  that  could  possibly  be  built  in  so  new 
a  country  ;  and  but  for  the  want  of  provisions  of  almost  every  kind, 
we  should  have  enjoyed  it  much.  The  roads  had  been  so  bad  all 
the  fall  that  we  had  waited  until  this  time,  and  I  think  it  was  Decem- 
ber when  my  husband  went  to  Detroit  for  supplies.  Fifteen  days 
were  consumed  in  going  and  coming.  We  had  been  without  flour  for 
three  weeks  or  more,  and  it  was  hard  to  manage  with  young  child- 
ren thus.  After  being  without  bread  three  or  four  days,  my  little- 
boy,  two  years  old,  looked  me  in  the  face  and  said,  4  Ma,  why 
don't  you  make  bread ;  don't  you  like  it-?  I  do.'  His  innocent  com- 
plaint brought  forth  the  first  tears  I  had  shed  in  Michigan  on  account 
of  any  privations  I  had  to  suffer,  and  they'were  about  the  last.  I  am 
not  of  a  desponding  disposition,  nor  often  low-spirited,  and  having 
left  New  York- to  make  Michigan  my  home,  I  had  no  idea  of  going 
back,  or  being  very  unhappy.  Yet  the  want  of  society,  of  church 
privileges,  and  in  fact  almost  every  thing  that  makes  life  desirable, 
would  often  make  me  sad  in  spite  of  all  effort  to  the  contrary.  I 
had  no  ladies'  society  for  one  year  after  coming  to  Dexter,  except 
that  of  sister  Noble  and  a  Mrs.  Taylor,  and  was  more  lonely  than 
either  of  them,  my  family  being  so  small. 

"  The  winter  passed  rather  gloomily,  but  when  spring  came,  every- 
17* 


894  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

thing  looked  delightful.  We  thought  our  hardships  nearly  at  an 
end,  when  early  in  the  summer  my  husband  was  taken  with  the 
ague.  He  had  not  been  sick  at  all  the  first  year ;  of  course  he  must 
be  acclimated.  He  had  never  suffered  from,  ague  or  fever  of  any 
kind  before,  and  it  was  a  severe  trial  for  him,  with  so  much  to  do 
and  no  help  to  be  had.  He  would  break  the  ague*  and  work  for  a 
few  days,  when  it  would  return.  In  this  way  he  made  his  garden, 
planted  his  corn,  and  thought  he  was  quite  well.  About  August 
he  harvested  his  wheat  and  cut  his  hay,  but  could  get  no  help  to 
draw  it,  and  was  again  taken  with  ague.  I  had  it  myself,  and  both 
my  children.  Sometimes  we  would  all  be  ill  at  a  time.  Mr.  Noble 
and  I  had  it  every  other  day.  Ho  was  almost  discouraged,  and  said 
he  should  have  to  sell  his  cattle  or  let  them  starve.  I  said  to  him, 
*  to-morrow  we  shall  neither  of  us  have  the  ague,  and  I  believe  I 
can  load  and  stack  the  hay,  if  my  strength  permits.'  As  soon  as 
breakfast  was  over,  I  prepared  to  go  into  the  meadow,  where  I 
loaded  and  stacked  seven  loads  that  day.  The  next  day  my  hus- 
band had  the  ague  more  severely  than  common,  but  not  so  with 
me  ;  the  exercise  broke  the  chills,  and  I  was  able  to  assist  him 
whenever  he  was  well  enough,  until  our  hay  was  all  secured.  In 
the  fall  we  had  several  added  to  our  circle.  We  were  more  healthy 
then,  and  began  to  flatter  ourselves  that  we  could  live  very  comfort- 
ably through  the  winter  of  1826;  but  we  were  not  destined  to 
enjoy  that  blessing,  for  in  November  my  husband  had  his  left  hand 
blown  to  pieces  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  a  gun,  which  confined 
him  to  the  house  until  April.  The  hay  I  had  stacked  during  the 
summer  I  had  to  feed  out  to  the  cattle  with  my  own  hands  in  the 
winter,  and  often  cut  the  wood  for  three  days  at  a  time.  The  logs 
which  I  alone  rolled  in,  would  surprise  any  one  who  has  never  been 
put  to  the  test  of  necessity,  which  compels  people  to  do  what  under 
other  circumstances  they  would  not  have  thought  possible.  This 
third  winter  in  Michigan  was  decidedly  the  hardest  I  had  yet  en- 
countered. In  the  spring,  Mr.  Noble  could  go  out  by  carrying  his 
hand  in  a  sling.  He  commenced  ploughing  to  prepare  for  planting 
his  corn.  Being  weak  from  his  wound,  the  ague  returned  again, 


HARRIET    L.    NOBLE.  395 

but  he  worked  every  other  day  until  his  corn  was  planted.  He  then 
went  to  New  York,  came  back  In  July,  and  brought  a  nephew  with 
him,  who  relieved  me  from  helping  him  in  the  work  out  of  doors. 
Although  1  was  obliged  to  stack  the  hay  this  third  fall,  I  believe  it 
was  the  last  labor  of  the  kind  I  ever  performed.  At  this  time  we 
began  to  have  quite  a  little  society ;  we  were  fortunate  in  having 
good  neighbors,  and  for  some  years  were  almost  like  one  family,  our 
interests  being  the  same,  and  envy,  jealousy,  and  all  bitter  feelings 
unknown  among  us.  We  cannot  speak  so  favorably  of  the  present 
time. 

"  When  I  look  back  upon  my  life,  and  see  the  ups  and  downs,  the 
hardships  and  privations  I  have  been  called  upon  to  endure,  I  feel 
no  wish  to  be  young  again.  I  was  in  the  prime  of  life  when  I  came 
to  Michigan — only  twenty-one,"  and  my  husband  was  thirty-three. 
Neither  of  us  knew  the  reality  of  hardship.  Could  we  have  known 
what  it  was  to  be  pioneers  in  a  new  country,  we  should  never  have 
had  the  courage  to  come ;  but  I  am  satisfied  that  with  all  the  disad- 
vantages of  raising  a  family  in  a  new  country,  there  is  a  consolation 
in  knowing  that  our  children  are  prepared  to  brave  the  ills  of  life,  I 
believe,  far  better  than  they  would  have  been  had  we  never  left  New 
York." 

In  view  of  the  formidable  journey  described  by  Mrs.  Noble  from 
Detroit  to  Ypsilanti,  it  should  be  mentioned  that  it  is  thirty  miles 
by  railroad,  and  ten  miles  thence  to  Ann  Arbor ;  Dexter  being  still 
ten  miles  further.  As  a  confirmation  of  her  remark  about  the  awe 
in  which  the  Indians  stood  of  Cass,  an  incident  may  be  mentioned. 
One  summer's  day,  accompanied  by  his  negro  man,  he  rode  up,  on 
his  way  from  the  West,  to  the  door  of  one  of  the  early  settlers  in 
this  county,  to  get  a  draught  of  water  from  the  well.  As  he  was 
about  going  on,  a  party  of  a  hundred  Indians  on  their  way  from 
Detroit,  stopped  also,  and  began  stacking  their  guns  by  the  side  of 
the  house,  evidently  intending  to  make  a  long  stay.  The  woman, 
who  chanced  to  be  alone,  was  very  much  frightened,  and  as  the 
savages  paid  no  attention  to  her  request  that  they  would  go  on, 
she  begged  Gov.  Cass  to  interfere.  He  spoke  a  few  words  to  them 


396  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

in  their  own  language,  and  as  soon  as  they  knew  him,  they  should- 
ered their  weapons  and  were  "  marking  off  in  double  quick  time." 

The  old  picturesque  looking  windmill  on  the  American  side  of 
the  Detroit  river,  is  the  one  to  which  all  the  people  in  western 
Michigan,  some  thirty  years  ago,  were  obliged  to  come  for  their 
grinding.  It  is  now  dismantled  of  its  wings,  and  the  tower  in  a 
ruinous  state. 

The  lady  whose  narrative  is  quoted  is,  it  will  be  acknowledged, 
"  a  pioneer  indeed."  She  is,  moreover,  an  interesting  and  charming 
woman,  and  admirable  in  all  the  relations  she  has  filled.  Her  man- 
ner is  described  as  being  remarkably  attractive,  and  her  portraiture 
in  conversation  of  the  hardships  and  peculiarities  of  pioneer  life,  as 
being  vivid  and  thrilling.  "  She  talks  with  so  much  spirit,"  says 
one  of  her  friends,  "  that  I  know  she  can  make  a  more  sprightly 
narrative  than  any  I  have  read."  Her  children  have  prosp  ered 
and  are  most  highly  respected,  and  neither  they  nor  their  descend- 
ants will  be  likely  to  forget  how  deeply  they  are  indebted  to  a 
mother  so  enterprising  and  energetic,  and  so  affectionately  mindful 
of  their  interests. 


The  village  of  Dixboro'  in  Washtenaw  County,  Michigan,  was  first 
laid  out  by  Mr.  Dix  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  once  somewhat  flour- 
ishing, though  now  a  miserable  looking  place,  owning  scarce  a  dwell- 
ing that  is  not  in  a  state  of  dilapidation.  The  inhabitants  are  not 
remarkable  for  superstition ;  yet  it  is  curious  to  notice  how  strong  is 
the  current  belief  even  to  the  present  day,  in  an  old  ghost  story. 
"  To  doubt  it,"  says  a  resident,  "  is  to  offer  a  personal  insult."  The 
tale  ran  briefly  thus  :  A  new  settler  by  the  name  of  Van  Wart,  a 
relative  of  one  of  the  captors  of  Andre,  who  had  taken  up  his  quar- 
ters in  a  house  recently  occupied  by  a  widow  then  deceased,  testified 
to  the  nocturnal  visits  of  an  apparition,  whom  the  neighbors  sup- 
posed to  be  no  other  than  the  woman's  ghost.  From  what  trans- 
pired during  these  visitations,  it  was  supposed  she  had  been  murdered 


FRANCES    TRASK.  397 

by  her  brother-in-law  for  the  sake  of  concealing  some  crime  com- 
mitted years  before.  The  matter  was  made  the  subject  of  legal 
investigation,  and  Van  Wart's  testimony  taken  in  full,  under  oath, 
by  the  magistrate  before  a  jury.  The  grave  was  opened  and  the 
body  examined  to  ascertain  if  her  death  had  been  caused  by  poison ; 
probably  the  only  instance  in  this  century  at  least  of  a  corpse  being 
disinterred  upon  the  evidence  of  a  ghost !  The  appearance  of  the 
dead  was  startlingly  like  the  description  given  by  the  ghost  seer,  who 
had  never  seen  her  living ;  but  nothing  was  found  to  justify  con- 
demnation of  the  accused,  who  was  accordingly  released  and  left  the 
country.  The  Scotch  physician  who  attended  the  woman  in  her 
last  illness,  and  was  supposed  to  be  implicated  in  the  deed,  also 
quitted  the  community.  The  old  log  house  is  still  standing,  with 
the  room  called  Tophet,  because  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  sick 
as  a  hospital — now  in  a  sadly  tumbledown  condition,  but  once  the 
seat  of  cheerful  hospitality.  In  the  olden  time,  many  a  merry  com- 
pany from  Ann  Arbor  was  wont  to  resort  there,  spending  the  even- 
ing in  dancing  and  festivity.  Ypsilanti  and  Dexter  were  also  favor- 
ite places  of  resort  for  sleighing  and  pic-nic  parties.  The  latter  village 
was  laid  out  by  Judge  Dexter,  brother  to  the.  celebrated  lawyer  of 
that  name  in  Boston. 

Miss  Frances  Trask  was  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Dix,  and  figured  promi- 
nently at  that  day  in  the  little  community  as  a  belle  somewhat  on 
the  Amazon  order.  She  had  much  talent,  with  a  degree  of  cultiva- 
tion that  caused  her  to  be  looked  up  to  with  respect  as  a  person  of 
unusual  accomplishments  ;  she  possessed,  moreover,  real  worth  and 
good  qualities  of  heart ;  but  her  eccentricities  and  unfeminine  de- 
fiance of  general  opinion  in  many  trifling  matters,  often-  startled  her 
quiet  neighbors,  and  made  it  necessary  for  those  who  loved  her  most 
to  defend  her  from  censure.  She  was  much  admired  by  the  men ; 
her  piquancy  of  wit,  force  and  decision  of  character,  and  a  sort  of 
happy  audacity,  setting  off  to  advantage  her  personal  attractions. 
Yet  she  was  not  wanting  in  fitness  for  the  usefulness  peculiar  to 
woman ;  in  cases  of  sickness  she  could  do  more  than  any  one  else, 
and  would  watch  for  many  nights  together,  bearing  fatigues  under 


398  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

whicn  an  ordinary  constitution  must  have  sunk.  In  emergencies 
that  required  prompt  action,  her  energy  was  praised  with  enthusiasm 
by  her  own  sex.  Finally,  when  pecuniary  embarrassments  made  it 
necessary  for  Dix  and  his  family  to  leave  their  home,  and  the  wife, 
a  gentle,  ladylike  creature,  was  overpowered  with  grief,  and  could 
do  little  to  expedite  preparations,  Frances  was  the  nerve  of  them  all. 
She  packed  up  everything,  dressed  the  children  one  by  one  the  last 
morning,  placing  each  on  a  chair  when  in  readiness,  with  orders  not 
to  move,  and  with  cheerful  alacrity  arranged  everything  for  their 
departure.  She  had  accustomed  herself  to  firing  at  a  mark,  and 
was  considered  one  of  the  best  shots  in  the  country,  besides  being 
able  to  ride  a  horse  with  any  racer.  It  was  said  she  could  cut  oft  a 
chicken's  head  at  an  almost  incredible  number  of  rods,  and  that  she 
often  went  out  deer  hunting ;  but  this  last  tradition  does  not  vouch 
for.  She  was  the  life  of  pic-nics  or  pleasure  parties,  and  seldom  let 
pass  an  opportunity  of  making  a  smart  or  satirical  speech,  some- 
times at  the  expense  of  delicate  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others.  A 
certain  Judge  Thompson,  who  had  held  office  at  Batavia  at  the  time 
of  Morgan's  abduction,  as  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  had  earned  a 
notoriety  in  no  wise  enviable,  chanced  to  be  helping  her  at  a  pic-nic 
on  one  occasion,  and  began  to  rally  her  on  her  penchant  for  meat ; 
"  Yes,"  she  retorted,  "  I  am  fond  of  flesh ;  you  of  blood  ;"  a  rejoin- 
der which  was  keenly  felt  by  the  mortified  official. 

On  another  occasion  the  lady  seems  to  have  met  her  match,  being 
excessively  annoyed  by  a  gallant  who  chose  to  vex  her  by  pretend- 
ing to  mistake  her  name,  calling  her  "  Miss  Trash,"  and  then  cor- 
recting himself  with  an  apparently  confused  apology.  She  used  to 
laugh  heartily  in  mentioning  a  speech  meant  to  be  particularly  ill- 
natured,  levelled  at  her  at  a  dinner  party  at  Ypsilanti  by  a  lady  of 
her  own  stamp,  who  had  become  irritated  beyond  forbearance  by 
some  of  her  sallies.  Looking  significantly  at  Miss  Trask,  she  gave 
her  toast,  saying,  "  When  Boston  next  takes  an  emetic,  I  hope  it  will 
tarn  its  head  towards  the  ocean." 

It  may  well  be  imagined  that  those  to  whom  Miss  Trask  chose 
to  be  amiable,  liked  her  much,  while  she  was  thoroughly  detested 


FRANCES   TEASK.  399 

by  those  who  had  suffered  from  the  arrows  of  her  wit.  Strange  as 
it  may  seem,  she  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  many  of  her  own  sex, 
notwithstanding  her  boldness  of  carriage,  from  which  it  may  be 
inferred  that  she  affected  to  be  more  lawless  than  she  was  in  reality. 
She  accompanied  Mr.  Dix  and  his  family  when  they  removed  to 
Texas.  Some  two  years  since,  when  she  returned  on  a  visit  to 
Michigan,  the  manifest  change  and  improvement  in  her  bearing  and 
manners  were  the  subject  of  general  remark.  She  had  grown  abso- 
lutely quiet  and  dignified ;  so  that  those  who  had  heard  only  of 
her  early  fame,  expressed  some  disappointment  at  not  finding  her 
the  dashing,  sprightly  creature  she  had  been  represented.  Time 
and  the  trials  and  labors  incident  to  life  in  a  new  country  had  tamed 
her  wild  spirit ;  she  had  mourned  the  loss  of  a  brother  in  the  Texan 
service,  and.  had  undergone  a  second  term  of  the  difficulties  and 
privations  of  pioneer  life.  The  government  of  Texas,  however,  had 
shown  that  they  appreciated  her  services  by  voting  her  a  large  tract 
of  land  in  compliment  to  her  opening  the  first  seminary  for  young 
ladies  in  that  State.  This  possession,  with  the  portion  of  land 
assigned  to  her  deceased  brother,  made  her  a  wealthy  woman. 
Among  the  curiosities  she  brought  from  her  new  home,  her  Mexican 
blanket  attracted  great  attention  from  its  novelty,  elegance  and 
richness.  Some  said  it  had  been  valued  in  Boston  at  a  thousand 
dollars.  A  story  had  gone  about,  the  details  of  which  were  denied 
by  the  heroine,  that  during  the  struggle  in  Texas,  a  Mexican 
attempting  to  force  his  way  into  the  house  at  a  time  when  Mr.  Dix 
was  too  ill  to  act  on  the  defensive,  had  been  shot  by  the  intrepid 
sister-in-law. 

It  may  be  conjectured  that  Miss  Trask  had  many  admirers. 
She  had  been  engaged  at  Dixboro'  to  Sherman  Dix,  a  relative 
of  her  brother-in-law,  and  somewhat  her  junior;  but  they  quar- 
relled, it  was  said,  upon  one  occasion  when  she  was  suffering 
from  an  attack  of  ague — about  some  trifling  matter,  and  the 
suitor  was  peremptorily  dismissed.  When  the  family  removed 
to  Texas  some  years  afterwards,  the  young  man  followed,  and  re- 
mained a  bachelor ;  whether  on  account  of  a  lingering  attachment 


4:00  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

to  the  fair  inconstant,  or  some  other  reason,  it  has  not  been  recorded. 
Miss  Trask's  matrimonial  destiny  at  length  overtook  her  ;  she  mar- 
ried at  Austin  a  Mr.  Thompson,  and  was  left  a  widow  in  a  few 
months.  Her  nephew  by  marriage  is  Secretary  of  State  in  Texas, 
and  a  son  and  daughter  of  Mr.  Thompson  reside  at  Chicago. 


Among  the  early  settlers  of  Michigan  who  deserve  a  notice,  should. 
be  numbered  Mrs.  Hector  Scott,  the  daughter  of  Luther  Martin,  the 
lawyer  who  so  ably  and  successfully  defended  Aaron  Burr.  She 
came  to  the  State  before  1837,  and  is  still  residing  in  Detroit.  She 
has  passed  through  many  severe  reverses  and  trials  ;  but  her  intel- 
lectual ability,  energy,  and  firmness  of  character,  have  sustained  her, 
constraining  the  admiration  and  respect  of  all  who  enjoy  her  acquaint- 
ance. Like  her,  Mrs.  Talbot,  once  a  celebrated  beauty,  retains  the 
dignified  manners  of  the  olden  time.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Commodore  Truxton.  She  still  resides  on  her  farm  near  Pontiac ; 
the  ancient  log  house  embowered  in  eglantine,  and  showing  evidence 
within  doors  of  a  refinement  of  taste  which  can  invest  with  elegance 
the  homeliest  materials. 

At  Union  City,  in  the  southern  part  of  Michigan,  lives  Mrs. 
Mosely,  daughter  of  the  missionary,  Bingham,  and  the  first  white 
chDd  born  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  first  child  born  at  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony  was  Mrs.  Horatio  Van  Cleve,  the  daughter  of 
Maj.  Nathan  Clark.  Orren  and  Ann  White,  descendants  of  the 
New  England  pilgrims,  came  to  Ann  Arbor  the  second  year  after 
its  settlement,  and  still  reside  on  the  place  they  purchased,  about 
two  miles  from  the  village. 

Mrs.  Goodrich,  one  of  the  pioneers,  who  came  with  her  husband 
and  family  to  Michigan  as  early  as  1827,  prides  herself  somewhat 
on  a  thrifty  grape  vine  which  ornaments  her  beautiful  garden, 
brought  by  her  from  New  England,  and  a  shoot  from  those  vines 
at  "  Bloody  Brook,"  the  tempting  clusters  of  which  enticed  the  un- 
fortunate young  men  whose  massacre  gave  name  to  the  locality. 


ANECDOTES.  401 

Miss  Hoit,  who  lived  in  the  northern  part  of  Livingston  County, 
when  the  country  was  covered  with  thick  forests,  wandered  one  day 
so  far,  while  gathering  wild  flowers,  that  she  entirely  lost  her  way. 
In  her  distress  she  heard  the  tinkling  of  cow-bells,  and  following  the 
sound,  remained  with  the  cattle  till  evening,  when  she  went  home 
in  safety  under  their  escort. 

The  wife  of  a  pioneer  who  had  lived  in  "  the  bush  "  nearly  three 
years  without  seeing  another  white  female  face,  has  spoken  of  the 
delight  with  which  she  found  a  dandelion  in  bloom  near  her  door- 
step. Probably  the  seed  of  the  golden  flower  had  been  brought 
with  that  of  the  "  tame  grass,"  as  they  called  "  timothy  "  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  native  marsh  grass ;  and  its  unexpected  ap- 
pearance brought  back  so  vividly  her  old  home  associations  and 
remembrance  of  the  beloved  ones  there,  that  she  could  not  resist 
the  impulse  to  "  sit  down  and  have  a  good  cry."  "  I  felt  less  lonely," 
she  said,  "  all  that  day,  and  ever  since.  My  dandelions  are  the  only 
ones  in  the  settlement,  and  I  take  care  that  they  and  the  white 
clover,  which  has  since  made  its  appearance,  shall  not  run  out." 
Another  in  Illinois,  who  had  for  .a  long  time  lived  without  windows, 
found  herself  at  last  able  to  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  glass  panes, 
and  had  a  small  window  set,  so  that  she  could  see  to  sew  in  the 
day-time  in  winter.  All  the  first  day,  while  plying  her  needle,  she 
found  herself  continually  looking  off,  to  wonder  at  the  novelty  of 
what  she  had  been  formerly  used  to  regard  as  an  indispensable  conve- 
nience. The  dwellers  on  the  heavily  timbered  land,  which  unlike 
the  pleasant  "  openings  "  where  the  sunshine  falls,  afforded  no  relief 
except  the  "clearing"  marked  with  blackened  stumps,  were  sub- 
jected to  dangers  as  well  as  inconvenience.  Mrs.  Comstock,  de- 
scribing her  primitive  home  in  Shiwasse  County,  says, — "  We  had 
previously  had  a  log  house  erected  in  the  woods,  but  we  came  up 
in  a  boat  by  the  river,  and  when  we  reached  the  spot,  were  obliged 
to  have  a  road  cut  before  we  could  get  to  our  home.  Here  for  a 
long  time  I  never  dared  trust  our  children  outside  the  enclosure  for 

o 

fear  of  the  bears  ;  for  those  animals  would  often  come  close  about 
us,  even  to  the  fence." 


402  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

Many  of  the  families  who  had  removed  to  Detroit  before  the  war 
of  1812,  returned  east  previous  to  its  outbreak,  being  in  dread  of 
attacks  from  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood,  who  were  known  to 
be  in  British  pay,  and  made  frequent  demonstrations  of  hostility ; 
sometimes  encamping  near  the  houses  of  residents  in  numbers 
of  three  or  four  hundred.  Captives  brought  to  Detroit  by  the 
savages,  were  often  purchased  there  to  save  them  from  a  more  terri- 
ble fate.  A  young  girl  who  had  been  thus  taken  into  a  family,  one 
clay  seeing  a  party  of  Indians  pass  by,  uttered  a  piercing  shriek, 
and  fell  senseless  to  the  floor.  On  recovering  consciousness,  she 
declared  that  she  had  seen  her  mother's  scalp  in  possession  of  one 
of  the  savages,  recognizing  it  by  the  long  light  braid  of  hair.  Her 
story  was  confirmed  by  a  person  who  had  seen  the  mother  and 
daughter  brought  with  other  prisoners  from  near  Sandusky,  Ohio. 
The  mother  being  in  feeble  health,  and  unable  to  travel  as  fast  as 
was  required,  was  tomahawked,  her  daughter  being  hurried  on  in 
ignorance  of  the  cruel  murder. 

At  the  time  of  Hull's  surrender,  the  women  expressed  much  in- 
dignation. A  Mrs.  Woodward,  since  well  known  in  Detroit,  men- 
tions a  hairbreadth  escape.  One  morning  during  the  war,  she  had 
risen,  dressed  herself  as  usual,  and  was  sitting  by  an  open  window 
which  looked  upon  the  Canada  side ;  suddenly  a  cannon-ball  whizzed 
past  her  face  and  buried  itself  in  the  side  of  the  house.  She  avers 
that  it  actually  straightened  the  curls  of  her  nair. 

The  preceding  notices  may  serve  to  show  something  of  the  priva- 
tions and  perils  encountered  by  female  pioneers  in  Michigan, 
and  the  heroism,  patience,  and  energy  with  which  they  were  met, 
as  well  as  afford  a  glimpse  into  the  peculiar  character  which,  mark- 
ing the  early  settlers,  has  in  some  degree  been  transmitted  to  their 
children. 


XXIV. 

EVEN  as  late  as  1835,  the  emigrants  who  poured  into  Michigan, 
often  building  their  homes  in  the  dense  forest  or  on  wild  prairie  land, 
are  entitled  to  be  called  pioneers.  An  idea  of  the  scenery  of  por- 
tions of  the  peninsula  at  that  period,  and  the  mode  of  living 
among  the  early  settlers,  may  be  given  best  in  the  language  of  one 
who  has  had  opportunity  of  observing  them.  For  this  purpose,  I 
am  permitted  to  make  a  few  extracts  from  a  manuscript  journal 
kept  by  a  highly  gifted  and  accomplished  lady,  now  residing  in  the 
western  part  of  New  York,  who  travelled  in  that  year  on  horse- 
back through  the  lower  peninsula  : 

"Bronson  (now  Kalamazoo),  May  28th,  1835.  Owing  to  tho 
uniform  progress  of  journeying  day  after  day  from  Jacksonburgh 
to  Marshall,  a  distance  of  thirty-six,  and  from  Marshall  hence,  of 
thirty-seven  miles,  'the  little  lines  of  yesterday'  have  well-nigh 
faded  without  being  noticed.  The  memory  of  the  beautiful,  and 
of  such  beauty — a  forest  in  its  wildness — is  so  much  more  power- 
ful than  distinct,  and  having  the  same  characteristics,  presents  so 
much  uniformity  that  but  little  record  can  be  made.  On  our  route 
we  passed  over  some  twenty  miles  through  the  wild  woods,  without 
seeing  a  human  being.  The  foliage  was  just  bursting  from  its 
numberless  sheaths  into  rich  drapery ; .  our  pathway  was  literallv 


404  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

strewn  with  flowers,  the  horses  pressing  them  at  every  step,  while 
the  birds  in  their  leafy  homes,  deluged  the  otherwise  unbroken 
stillness  with  wild  and  delicious  melody.  The  silence  of  the  deep 
forest,  during  the  brief  intervals  of  these  untaught  lays,  seems 
strangely  oppressive  ;  yet  ere  you  can  analyze  its  unwonted  power, 
earth's  lyre,  with  its  myriad  tones,  is  struck  again,  and  you  are 
roused  to  the  liveliest  sympathy.  I  had  somewhat  the  feeling  of 
Milton's  Eve,  differently  applied.  She  asked,  '  Wherefore  all  night 
long  shine  these  ?'  My  heart-query  was,  *  Wherefore  all  this 
wealth  of  varied  note  and  strain  ?'  But  the  same  heart  answered, 
4  These  feathered  songsters  know  of  home,  and  love,  and  sweet 
companionship,  and  joyously  give  thanks  for  the  gift  of  being,  tell- 
ing to  each  other,  and  to  Him  who  made  them,  of  the  blessing  of 
life.7 

"  This  day  we  first  saw  the  Kalamazoo  Eiver — a  narrow,  dark 
stream.  We  stopped  at  a  small  log  cabin,  which  on  its  shingle 
sign  advertised  i  Entertainment  for  man  and  beast ;'  doubtless  after 
the  fashion  of  the  settlements  the  proprietors  had  left,  and  we  were 
grateful  for  any  shelter  from  the  noonday  sun.  I  noticed,  while 
sitting  in  an  inner  room,  to  which,  as  a  lady  traveller,  I  was  cere- 
moniously conducted,  that  the  landlord  eyed  my  husband  with  sin- 
gular, yet  irresolute  attention.  I  did  not  fancy,  however,  that  he 
had  ever  seen  him  before.  He  was  an  odd-looking  personage ; 
rather  slight  in  his  general  proportions,  and  short  in  stature ;  he 
had  large,  prominent  features,  overshadowed  by  a  shock  of  coarse 
yellow  hair,  faded  and  worn,  that  gave  him  a  wild  and  savage 
aspect,  particularly  as  this  hair  and  his  complexion  seemed  scarcely 
to  vary  a  shade  in  tint.  After  repeated  advances,  accompanied 
with  stolen  and  hurried  glances  at  my  husband,  he  rushed  out  from 
his  so-called  bar,  and  broke  out  into  a  sort  of  earnest  thanksgiving, 
blessing  him  for  having  ejected  him  from  one  of  the  small  pieces 
of  land  contracted  to  settlers  in  western  New  York.  He  went  on 
to  say  that  he  did  not  at  first  recognize  him,  but  he  did  now,  and 
could  tell  him  that  sending  him  from  that  farm  was  one  of  the  best 
things  that  ever  happened  to  him  ;  that  after  he  was  sent  away 


JOURNAL.  405 


because  he  could  not  pay  a  cent  on  his  land,  he  came  to  this 
place,  and  would  not  give  ten  acres  of  it  for  fifty  like  that  he  left  in 
the  State  of  New  York.  Setting  aside  the  intrinsic  value  so  ear- 
nestly put  forth,  this  new  and  much-prized  possession  was  truly  a 
beautiful  spot.  Ttue  dark  current  of  the  river  was  rushing  with 
arrowy  swiftness  past  the  trail  on  which  he  had  piled  his  log  dwell- 
ing. A  fine  piece  of  rising  ground  formed  the  back-ground,  which 
was  imperfectly  subdued  by  cultivation,  while  a  little  to  the  west  a 
scene  lay  revealed  that  might  do  for  a  glimpse  of  fairy-land.  A 
small  lake,  with  its  sparkling  waters,  reposed  like  a  jewel  in  its 
dark  green  setting.  The  forest,  on  the  one  side,  was  enlivened  with 
the  luxuriance  of  the  dog-wood,  now  in  full  blossom  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach.  The  large  white  flowers  dispensed  in  such  profu- 
sion, gave  more  the  aspect  of  a  boundless  garden  of  lilies,  than  the 
unsuspected  treasures  of  an  uncultivated  wilderness.  There  were 
clear  openings  on  the  other  side,  the  meadow-like  ground  being 
just  sprinkled  with  trees,  as  if  arrayed  for  picturesque  landscape 
beauty,  affording  wider  vistas  from  the  foliage  only  making  itself 
seen  in  delicate  tracery,  not  being  yet  quite  unfolded. 

'  JVIany  an  elf  and  many  a  fay 
Here  might  hold  their  pastime  gay.7 

"  Our  landlady  for  the  hour  seemed  to  share  fully  her  husband's 
feelings  of  self-gratulation,  though  she  told  me  it  was  pretty  hard 
times  when  they  had  to  live  in  and  under  their  ox- wagon  during  the 
early  spring  days,  while  the  logs  were  felled  and  put  up  for  their 
home.  This  log  house  would  be  quite  an  object  of  interest  to  per- 
sons unaccustomed  to  the  pristine  dwellings  of  the  western  territo- 
ries. It  seemed  to  consist  of  three  distinct  buildings,  probably  put 
up  at  different  periods,  to  meet  the  increasing  demands  of  ambition 
as  prosperity  more  abounded.  What  was  evidently  the  first  pile 
of  logs,  was  used  as  a  bar-room  of  the  roughest  construction.  This 
also  served  as  a  counter  for  the  ready-change  business  of  this 
much  frequented  inn.  The  boards,  or  rather  planks  of  the  floor, 
were  hewn,  and  laid  down  so  unequally  as  to  be  perilous  to 


406  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

an  unwary  or  even  rapid  step.  Directly  in  the  rear  was  the 
kitchen,  in  which  the  culinary  implements  and  table  necessaries 
were  arranged,  evidently  with  an  attempt  at  order  without  the  re- 
cognized law  thereunto  of  anything  in  heaven  or  earth.  The  cook- 
ing apparatus  was  so  simple,  and  the  vessels  for  various  uses  so  few 
in  number,  as  to  excite  my  wonder  and  admiration  at  woman's 
homely  tact  and  skill ;  and  wayworn  traveller  though  I  was,  the 
preparation  for  our  noonday  meal  was  almost  as  engrossing  as  the 
partaking  thereof  after  it  was  prepared.  A  third  division  of  the 
house  served  as  a  parlor  for  our  hostess,  and  as  an  occasional  bed- 
room for  *  special  people' — a  phrase  which  I  found  quite  current  as 
a  designation  for  the  more  fastidious  class  of  travellers,  who  now 
began  to  pass  through  this  hitherto  almost  unknown  territory. 
Above  the  main  part  of  these  buildings  extended  a  sort  of  garret, 
lighted  by  a  window  of  four  small  panes  in  one  end,  and  the  open- 
ing of  the  ladder-way — the  only  mode  of  entrance.  This  was  the 
dormitory  of  India-rubber  like  capacity  for  the  multitudes  who  in 
this  season  of  land-speculation,  did  here  nightly  congregate. 

"  On  the  fifth  of  June,  we  pursued  our  journey  toward  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  territory,  intending  to  take  a  look  at  Lake  Michi- 
gan from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph's  River.  Our  way  lay 
through  forests  and  openings  similar  to  those  through  which  we 
had  passed  for  days,  but  afterwards  we  struck  into  the  more  heavily 
timbered  land,  which  the  growth  of  the  advancing  season  had  clad 
with  cumbrous  garments  of  foliage,  closing  up  the  vistas  of  beauty 
and  light ;  in  places  denying  the  summer  sun  its  right  to  rest  upon 
the  flowers  and  shrubs  it  had  but  lately  warmed  into  being.  At 
nearly  noon,  we  came  upon  the  edge  of  a  large  prairie,  the 
largest  in  the  Territory,  which  although  much  smaller  than  those 
spread  farther  westward,  had  still  all  the  distinctive  features  of  those 
vast  and  undulating  plains.  The  landscape  was  expanded  and  beau- 
tiful, and  yet  one  can  scarcely  make  intelligible  the  penetrating  sen- 
timent of  its  beauty.  Perhaps  the  first  influence  consisted  in  the 
sense  of  relief  from  the  pent  up  feeling  we  had  experienced  in  the 
close  pressure  as  it  were,  of  the  deep,  dark  forest  from  which  we 


JOURNAL.  4:07 

emerged.  In  the  centre  of  this  plain  was  a  collection  of  *  innumer- 
ous  boughs'  like  an  island  in  the  midst  of  circling  waters.  The 
prairie  was  begirt  by  a  belt  of  timbered  land,  though  the  outline 
was  so  dim  in  the  distance,  as  rather  to  look  like  a  lazy  cloud  rest- 
ing for  support  upon  the  verge  of  the  horizon.  We  gave  our 
hoi^ses  the  reins,  and  they  cantered  merrily  across  the  rich  plain,  the 
whole  covered  in  this  early  summer  with  short  and  close  grass. 
Innumerable  flowers  raised  their  variegated  heads  between  the  tiny 
meshes  of  network  woven  by  the  wild  pea,  while  the  butterflies, 
with  their  bright  tints  and  quick  fluttering  wings,  were  perpetually 
upspringing,  startled  by  our  approach.  After  crossing  the  prairie 
we  again  struck  into  the  forest,  having  previously  stopped  at  the 
island  inn  for  some  refreshment. 

"  Towards  evening,  as  was  our  wont,  we  felt  that  we  must  look 
along  our  way  for  some  lodging  for  the  night.  Our  custom  had 
been,  except  in  the  villages,  not  to  seek  accommodation  at  the  inns 
scattered  at  irregular  distances  along  the  road.  The  new  settlers 
continually  moving  in  toward  their  purchases,  and  the  number  of 
speculators  in  pursuit  of  locations  on  which  to  raise,  not  dwellings, 
but  future  fortunes,  so  completely  filled  them  up,  as  to  render  it  an 
impossibility  to  find  for  a  lady  even  momentary  seclusion,  much  less 
repose.  Our  practice  was  as  soon  as  we  found  the  shadows  begin- 
ning to  lengthen,  to  stop  at  the  first  decent  log  house  and  ask  for 
a  drink  of  water.  Getting  the  water  afforded  time  and  opportunity 
for  reconnoitering ;  and  if  the  tin  cup  or  basin  in  which  the  draught 
was  offered  looked  clean,  and  the  premises  in  any  way  inviting  by 
comparison,  we  made  the  request  that  we  could  be  accommodated 
for  the  night.  We  had  not  on  this  evening  seen  any  houses,  the 
tract  of  country  through  which  we  had  been  passing  for  some  hours 
being  without  settlement. 

"  On  coming  up  to  some  woodmen  whose  gleaming  axes  told  that 
their  whereabouts  was  near  at  hand,  we  stopped,  and  after  exchang- 
ing mutual  glances  of  inquiry,  my  husband  asked  if  they  could  tell 
us  where  we  could  find  a  tavern?  They  looked  at  each  other  and 
then  askance  at  us.  The  question  was  repeated  again  ;  they  looked 


408  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE   WEST. 

bewildered,  when  my  husband  thoughtfully  changed  his  phrase  and 
said — '  Where  can  I  stay  to-night,  and  have  good  care  taken  of 
my  horses  ?'  The  answer  then  came  quickly — '  Oh,  at  Nicholas 
B — 's,  the  Hooshier's,  he  has  a  first-rate  place,  and  takes  in  every 
night  a  great  many  folks.'  We  made  two  or  three  further  inquiries 
and  passed  on,  with  our  expectations  considerably  raised  in  prospect 
of  the  promised  accommodation. 

"  Just  after  sunset,  we  reached  the  place  designated  by  the  wood- 
man, and  peering  through  the  gloaming,  I  espied  a  good- sized 
frame  barn,  with  an  enclosure,  and  all  the  appearance  of  a  well 
stocked  barn  and  rick.  I  fairly  screamed  with  delight,  so  important 
to  our  further  journey  was  the  welfare  of  our  horses,  and  so  certain 
did  the  indication  seem  of  a  comfortable  resting  place  for  my  own 
wearied  limbs.  We  soon  came  out  of  the  forest,  upon  the  edge  of 
a  small  prairie ;  there  stood  the  barn  in  very  truth,  but  I  looked 
around  in  vain  for  the  house  which  I  had  pictured  in  such  glowing 
colors  to  myself,  as  presenting  some  comparison  in  size  and  comfort 
to  the  barn.  A  sudden  chill  of  loneliness  came  over  us.  There 
lay  the  prairie,  about  three  hundred  acres  in  extent,  shrubless  and 
bare,  except  the  patches  of  recent  cultivation,  which,  however,  in  the 
dim  light,  gave  but  little  indication  of  richness  or  growth.  The 
trees  shut  us  in  completely,  and  after  traversing  the  deep  forest 
as  we  had  been  for  hours,  we  could  not  even  let  imagination  picture 
a  livelier  or  brighter  scene  beyond.  Night  came  rapidly  on,  while 
we  stood  baffled,  without  a  present  sign  of  human  existence.  Our 
horses  had  for  a  mile  or  two  been  lagging,  perhaps  in  memory  of 
the  morning  scamper  and  noon-day  refreshment ;  and  now  the 
whole  group  seemed  peculiarly  sensible  of  the  influence  of  solitude, 
which  in  us  soon  resolved  itself  into  utter  dreariness.  A  fresh 
glance  of  scrutiny,  however,  enabled  us  to  descry  a  very  small  hut 
jutting  into  the  woods,  as  uninviting  a  log  house  as  we  had  seen  in  all 
our  wanderings.  We  both  looked  at  it  for  some  moments  without 
speaking,  so  completely  paralyzed  were  all  our  'high  raised  expecta- 
tions. I  then  exclaimed,  '  We  cannot  stay  in  that  hovel/  But 
fastidiousness  was  soon  displaced  by  eagerness  with  me,  when  my 


JOUKNAL.  4.00 

husband  calmly  said — 4We  must  find  shelter  there  or  in  the  barn, 
for  no  further  can  we  go  to-night.'  We  urged  our  horses  to  the 
door ;  a  well  stood  directly  in  front  of  it,  a  rare  and  great  treasure  in 
a  new  settlement,  and  after  grateful  notice  of  this,  my  husband 
entered  the  dwelling.  He  asked  the  woman  civilly,  'if  she  could 
accommodate  us  for  the  night.7  Her  answer  came  quick  in  utter- 
ance and  shrill  in  tone.  '  I  suppose  I  shall  have  to,  any  way.7 
Such  was  our  welcome.  But  necessity  here  giving  no  scope  to 
pride,  or  even  wonted  self-respect,  obliged  me  to  dismount  and 
receive  the  favor  so  grudgingly  bestowed.  The  woman  was  perhaps 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  plain  in  feature,  and  old-fashioned  beyond 
iny  memory  in  attire.  Her  dress  was  a  thick  striped  material, 
woven  to  defy  time  and  its  ravages.  It  was  unlike  any  fabric  to 
which  I  had 'been  accustomed.  It  fitted  the  figure  almost  closely, 
low  in  the  neck,  with  sleeves  just  coming  below  the  elbow.  The 
dress  was  extremely  short-waisted,  without  a  particle  of  fulness  in 
the  skirt,  save  the  ordinary  plaiting  just  behind  essential  to  conve- 
nience. She  had  oti  no  shoes  or  stockings,  and  a  faded  bandana 
handkerchief  was  tied  in  a  loose  knot  around  her  neck.  Her  hair 
was  bound  straight  about  her  head,  and  fastened  with  some  sort 
of  a  metal  comb,  just  large  enough  to  perform  its  office. 

"  On  my  entrance  a  wooden  chair  was  handed  me,  after  being 
huniedly  dusted ;  it  was  low  and  rickety,  but  it  instantly  bestowed 
the  promise  of  rest,  which  I  so  much  craved  after  sitting  so  many 
hours  in  the  saddle.  My  husband,  without  entering  the  hut,  went 
on  the  woman's  vague  direction  to  find  the  landlord,  that  our 
horses,  whose  prospects  of  accommodation  were  so  far  beyond  ours, 
might  speedily  receive  attention.  As  soon  as  he  was  gone,  I  essay- 
ed an  acquaintance  with  my  hostess,  and  soon  believed  that  her 
want  of  courtesy  at  our  reception  proceeded  more  from  a  fear  of 
not  being  able  to  make  us  comfortable,  than  from  vexation  at  the 
present  trouble.  Two  children,  the  eldest  of  them  not  more  than 
two  years  of  age,  divided  her  care  with  the  present  bustle  of  pre- 
paring a  meal  and  entertaining  me  by  rapid  talking.  Her  face  be- 
came almost  pleasant  with  the  interest  it  soon  showed  in  transforming 
18 


410         .  PIONEER  WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 

me  into  a  newspaper,  from  which  she  could  extract  without  much 
trouble  the  information  desired  by  woman,  let  her  nook  of  the 
world  be  ever  so  obscure,  or  her  connection  with  the  things  without 
ever  so  slight,  I  had  in  my  daily  progress  become  quite  used  to 
this  sort  of  questioning, <a*Kt  it*  some  instances  had  to  make  my 
tarrying  a  lasting  mentor-mi  ©£  usefulness,  by  drawing  patterns  of 
certain;. 'garments,  collars;  caps,  etc.,  with  a  coal  on  the  floor  or  table, 
where  papei*  could  not  be  had,  so  tha&  wh#»  cloth  could  be  pro- 
cured -the  latest-  mode-  might  be  used  in- 'its  fashioning.  While  thus 
engaged  in  conversation,  growing  in  self  importance  every  moment, 
and  quite  forgetting  that  I  was  ftii !  lihiw^hed^for  guest,  I  took  a 
survey  of  the  house.  It  was,  of  'dourse,  built  of  logs,  fourteen  feet 
by  sixteen;  its  sides  five  feet  six -mches:  ih  height,  and  the  roof 
covered  with  strips  of  bark.  A  few  scattering  boards  made  the 
floor.  It  had  not  the  ordinary  stick  and  round  chimney  common 
to  log  houses,  but  a  sort -of  box  was  made  of  split ;  logs  at  one  end 
of  the  room-;  this  was  filled  in  with  dirt  and  ashes,  and  the  fire 
built  in  the  centre  of  it.  An  opening  in  the  ill-made  roof  per- 
mitted the  smoke  to  find  egress-,  'though  occasional  puffs  during  the 
process -of-  getting  stopper,  advised'  us  of  'its  loitering  presence. 
After  my  survey  of  the  room  itself,  I  began  to  take  notice  of  the 
furniture,  and  more  especially  of  its-  sleeping  facilities.  Two  bed- 
steads, each  sustained  by  one  post — quite  an  anomaly ]m> my  pre- 
vious experience  of  Cabinet  ^utttftttfe  \  a' 'toge;  chest,  which  had 
evidfetfCly  borne  joiiril^yi^^Wheti-;itl^'€sSay  at  house-keeping  was 
made  away  from  the^^aiteifnal  home;  a  small  boxoMiotti<£'manu- 
'ftieture,  and  some  other  absolute  essentials  to  the  wants  of  even  the 
poorest  dwelling,-' constituted  its-weMtli;  ( I-must-add'ai  note  bf  de- 
scription of1  the  'b<*dsteafe>  -T\vfr 'sides-  were  formed  by;  the  projec- 
tion of  the  logs  of -wliich  tbei-'^ui-wa^  mkl&fatfrtne  imm;  > 
post  supported  the^tet^tw^^'^^  whi^h'  wei-fe  oft  tfo o$* 
inserted  intb  the  Metes  of  '%e  •  >M6uSe; '-  ^fetei^bed^  :wer£  ;' 
high'i-  u|)ba  i  >tbe»frj  <a*id  *  tti Ai^rtMP  eo\fei<edf » ^wfth  -blue1  aB 
wbdleh  ^  cwerMs^^uMte  v^artM  of  ^fo-J'portioln" brought 
^aiimolans'iJ  ni  bswoda  ji^of?  Ji  ^^yi^hu  -/ilj  d,iiv/  jn;>^.»i<j  j^t.xnij' 


JOUKNAL.  411 

young  wife  to  her  husband.  Small  pillows,  with  clean-looking  cot- 
ton pillow-cases,  completed  their  decoration. 

"I  had  noticed  that  my  hostess,  during  her  bustle  and  constant 
chat  with  me,  had  gone  frequently  to  the  door,  and  looked  anxious- 
ly into  the  increasing  darkness,  I  of  course  supposed  from  no  other 
motive  than  a  desire  to  find  out  whether  my  husband  had  found 
hers,  and  secured  attention  for  our  horses.  But  not  so  interested 
was  she  in  her  stranger  guests.  At  another  visit  to  the  low  door, 
her  anxiety  could  not  be  restrained,  and  she  exclaimed,  '  I  wonder 
where  my  children  can  be  !  They  ought  to  have  been  here  more 
than  an  hour  ago;  they  are  always  out  of  the  way  when  I  want 
them.'  I  looked  aghast.  More  children  !  How  many — how  old ! 
What  could  be  done  with  them !  I  had  been  puzzling  myself  to 
know  how  six  of  us  could  be  accommodated  in  the  two  beds,  and 
in  this  tiny  room ;  and  now  an  indefinite  number  to  be  expected, 
how  could  we  be  made  even  tolerably  comfortable  ?  Speculation — 
quiet  though  it  was — was  soon  to  be  ended  by  more  precise  ap- 
prehension, when  four  children,  three  boys  and  a  girl,  came  rush- 
ing from  the  woods  into  the  house,  animated  by  all  the  buoyancy  of 
hungry  little  mortals  just  liberated  from  a  day's  confinement  and 
control.  It  being  quite  dark  without,  the  light,  small  as  it  was 
within  the  dwelling,  formed  a  strong  contrast,  and  th$  little  urchins 
were  so  suddenly  arrested  upon  perceiving  a  stranger,  that  they 
stood  like  so  many  statues,  incapable  of  thought  or  movement 
The  remonstrance  of  the  mother  quickly  restored  them,  and  then 
began  importunate  demands  for  something  to  eat.  Thus  there 
were  six  children,  the  father  and  mother,  with  ourselves,  to  be 
stowed  away  for  the  night.  It  was  in  vain  for  me  to  speculate 
upon  the  probable  disposition  of  these  numbers,  so  trusting  as  I 
had  often  done  before  to  the  elastic  capabilities  of  these  log  houses, 
I  determined  to  bide  my  time. 

"  Our  host  came  in  with  my  husband,  both  bending  low  in  passing 
through  the  door.  My  husband  gave  a  wistful  glance  at  me,  and 
seemed  reassured  when  a  widened  rather  than  a  lengthened  face  was 
turned  upon  him.  Truth  to  tell,  I  was  almost  convulsed  with 


412  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF    THE   WEST. 

laughter  at  some  of  the  previous  proceedings  of  my  hostess.  The  ill- 
jointed  planks  which  served  for  our  floor,  were  quickly  brushed 
hither  and  thither  with  an  Indian  broom  (made  of  wood  finely 
splintered)  ;  the  flying  dust  seeming  to  have  no  particular  destina- 
tion, save  to  seek  new  places  of  deposit.  The  children  were  re- 
peatedly hushed  and  pushed  into  sundry  nooks  and  corners,  while 
the  cooking  of  the  supper  went  on.  The  little  urchins  peered  at  the 
stranger,  and  anon  played  tricks  with  each  other,  when  a  sudden 
burst,  caused  by  outbreaking^  mischief,  would  occasion  a  new  effort 
at  quieting.  In  process  of  time  our  supper  was  served,  and  ere  long 
we  gathered  to  the  meal.  The  table  was  an  oaken  plank,  supported 
by  three  stout  sticks  put  into  bored  holes,  for  legs.  A  table-cloth 
being  altogether  a  superfluous  luxury,  we  dispensed  with  it ;  some 
bread,  baked  in  an  open  kettle,  pork  fried  in  the  same  utensil,  and 
tea  with  maple  sugar,  formed  the  variety  presented  to  us.  Neither 
milk  nor  butter  were  afforded,  and  yet  we  were  at  a  regular  house 
of  entertainment,  kept  by  a  large  landed  proprietor.  Strange  to 
say,  the  meal  was  quite  palatable,  eaten  with  a  healthful  appetite 
after  a  day's  rkle  on  horseback  of  some  thirty-five  miles.  Soon  after 
tea,  the  children  being  fed  by  pieces  put  into  their  hands  during  the 
time  we  were  supping,  I  ventured  to  hint,  that  as  J  was  very  tired  I 
should  like  ^P  g°  to  bed.  The  woman  went  to  the  chest  which  I 
had  before  noticed,  took  out  two  clean  sheets,  spread  them  upon  one 
of  the  feather  beds,  and  again  put  on  the  woollen  coverlet,  although 
it  was  a  June  night,  a  fire  burning  briskly,  and  ten  persons  were  to 
inhabit  the  small  apartment.  Immediately  after  the  bed  was  pre- 
pared, the  hostess  said  in  an  authoritative  tone  to  her  husband, 
4  Nicholas,  the  lady  wishes  to  go  to  bed  ;  turn  your  face  to  the 
wall.'  Nicholas,  as  if  accustomed  to  this  nightly  drill,  wheeled 
swiftly  about,  and  stood  as  still  as  if  suddenly  become  one  of  the 
scanty  articles  of  furniture. 

"  This  said  Nicholas  looked  somewhat  like  a  barbarian,  his  bushy 
head  and  unshaven  beard  presenting  quite  a  wild  appearance.  He 
h'owever  seemed  intelligent  enough  for  his  locality  and  business, 
and  took  most  excellent  care  of  our  horses.  My  toilet  for  the  night 


JOURNAL.  413 

was  very  speedily  made,  and  I  threw  myself  on  the  bed,  having  first 
removed  Ihe  odious  coverlet.  Still  no  new  developements  were 
made  in  reference  to  the  accommodation  of  the  youthful  group ; 
ere  long,  however,  sundry  signs  of  sleepiness  appeared,  betokened 
by  fretfulness  and  some  quarrelling,  and  then  the  mother  proceeded 
to  lift  out  two  trundle  beds  made  of  pieces  of  board  nailed  together. 
The  absence  of  rollers  made  the  operation  rather  laborious,  but  the 
husband  and  father  vouchsafed  not  his  aid.  It  was  finally  done  by 
the  woman  alone,  and  into  these  five  of  the  little  ones  were  speedily 
placed.  Very  soon  after,  the  dim,  flickering  light  was  put  out,  and 
we  were  left  utterly  abandoned,  as  I  feared,  to  suffocation.  I  remon- 
strated decidedly  against  the  shutting  of  the  door,  but  was  told  there 
was  fear  of  the  wolves ;  and  indeed  before  morning  our  ears  were 
saluted  with  the  shrill,  though  somewhat  smothered  howl  of  these 
prowlers  of  the  forest.  I  bore  the  heat  and  bad  air  for  several  hours, 
and  then  in  desperation  for  want  of  a  pure  breath,  I  commenced 
picking  the  chinking  out  from  between  the  logs  at  the  side  of  the 
bed,  and  in  this  way  secured  for  myself  a  breathing  place,  amid  the 
enjoyment  of  which  I  fell  asleep,  and  awaked  not  until  the  broad 
sunbeams  were  laughing  in  my  face. 

%  *  *  *  *  %  * 

"During  the  last  week  we  have  made  an  excursion  into  the  upper 
part  of  the  lower  peninsula  of  Michigan.  Early  in  the  morning  of 
Monday,  we  left  the  village  and  crossed  the  Ke-Kalamazoo  in  a  mis- 
erably constructed  scow,  and  soon  after  receiving  a  wrong  direction, 
lost  our  way.  Pursuing,  however,  a  trail  for  some  distance,  not 
knowing  whither  it  would  lead  us,  we  came  to  an  Indian  trader's 
house,  pleasantly  located  upon  the  banks  of  the  river.  We  met 
before  we  reached  this  place,  some  Indians  curiously  and  fantasti- 
cally dressed  with  feathers,  ribbons,  &c.  They  were  mounted  on 
ponies,  and  seemed  bound  on  some  official  expedition.  They  all 
appeared  happy  and  good-natured.  The  trader  gave,  us  very  vague 
directions  for  our  onward  way,  but  perhaps  as  definite  as  a  route 
through  an  uninhabited  forest  could  be  made.  The  direction  was 
after  this  fashion  :— Take  the  right  hand  trail,  then  the  left,  and 


414:  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

afterwards  strike  across  the  woods  to  the  right  of  the  sun,  with  some 
intimation  that  at  certain  distances  lakes  would  be  seen,  and  open- 
ings which  would  give  us  fresh  energy  and  perseverance.  Making 
practical  these  suggestions  as  far  as  we  might,  aided  by  a  pocket 
compass  and  the  extra  bestowment  of  shrewdness  with  which  my 
husband  is  endowed,  we  reached  a  prairie  where  there  was  a  small 
settlement,  and  stopped  for  a  few  moments  to  avail  ourselves  of  the 
intelligence,  if  so  be  we  could  find  any,  of  a  man  loitering  by  the 
side  of  the  trail,  in  hopes  of  further  direction,  and  then  passed  into 
the  dense  wilderness.  Our  destination  was  an  Indian  village  at  a 
distance  of  twenty-six  miles.  The  interval  had  no  human  habita- 
tion, and  we  were  carefully  charged  to  follow  without  deviation  the 
particular  trail  to  the  village.  Here  and  there  were  traces  of  a 
recent  Indian  encampment,  and  in  one  or  two  places  we  saw  the 
smoke  ascending  from  their  unextinguished  fires.  The  country  had 
the  same  beauty  with  which  we  had  become  so  familiar.  The  few 
clouds  were  motionless,  the  water  in  the  many  lakes  we  passed 
sparkled,  but  scarcely  showed  the  tiniest  ripple.  As  before  nature's 
deep  repose  was  broken,  when  the  many  birds  swelled  out  their  rich 
choruses,  and  every  little  trill  met  our  ears  with  peculiar  distinctness. 
"We  passed  over  a  number  of  small  but  beautiful  prairies,  like  g  rden 
spots  covered  in  wild  luxuriance  with  flowers  of  every  form  and  hue 
emitting  delicate  and  delicious  perfume.  This  last  seemed  rather  pecu- 
liar to  this  part  of  the  country,  for  in  spite  of  what  philosophers  tell 
us,  wild  flowers  have  ordinarily  no  fragrance  to  common  perception. 
In  some  districts  we  rode  through  dark  and  tangled  forest,  the  strag- 
gling, yet  by  its  heavy  masses  closely  plaited  foliage,  bounding  our 
vision  to  a  few  feet  on  either  side,  and  then  almost  before  we  felt  the 
confinement  we  passed  out  into  an  opening,  where  the  bright  sun- 
beams darting  quick  lines  of  light  left  the  shadowed  portion  darker 
from  the  contrast.  Again  we  would  ride  among  the  trees  on  the 
smooth  turf,  not  a  shrub  or  a  brush  marring  the  velvet  surface,  while 
the  lofty  trees  overarching  in  their  rich  foliage,  canopied  our  path- 
way. 

"  The  hours  of  the  day  seemed  long  in  passing,  from  the  necessity 


415 

of  carefully  watching  the  trail,  and  ftpfa^vuig^Qy,  |rteident  (l|nked 
to  humanity  to  enliven  us.  About  J^3aftjtgij^jj^ 
sun  was  to  sink  to  his  rest,  we  came  ^op.^e  ,ep!ge  of  a  w.et 
or  marsh  about  half  a  mile  in  extent,,. )ff|i(^hr(aftlfsfrpm! 
as  the  uncertain  tread  of  my  horse's  ffee?t  rugpn  rth^e  yielding  tju;r| 
made  my  seat  unsteady,  and  altogetheij  t  am^eci  and  repelled  me. 
But  there  was  no  alternative  ;  the  trail  ^p.^i^^'Q^  it-  in  its 
line^ and  we  dared  not  at  that  hour  ran,ftli^7^.(9f  <Jelay,  JL 
should  lose  in  the  deepening  twilight  its  uncertain  guidance.  We 
pressed  on,  feeling  at  every  step  that  our  horses  at  the  next,  .might 
sink  their  hoofs  too  deeply  for  extrication.  11^^  peculiarity, of;  this 
marsh  was  in  the  fact  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  appearance  of 
mud  ;  all  was  a  bright  green  sward,  or  would  have  been,  in  th,e  glow- 
ing sunshine,  but  this  was  resting  on  a  wa^ryj  bed,-;  into?  whiqh  it 
sank  at  every  pressure.  We  however  at  last  safely  crossed  ,jthg 
marsh  after  some  toil,  when  lo,  a  new  anxiety  awaited  me.  A 
dark  stream  intervened  between  us  and  the  solid  ground,  and , as  the 
spot  where  we  stood  was  evidently  the  ford,  cross  it  ?we  must.  The 
pool,  or  creek,  or  whatever  might  be  its  appropriate  designation^ iw8? 
black  as  Erebus,  with  sloping  banks,  and  though  narrow,  looke^^p 
deep  in  the  uncertainty,  that  I  quite  feared  it  would  engulph  us. 
My  husband  bade  me  tarry  until  he  had  crossed  it,,  and. I  felt  quite 
sick  with  fear  for  him  when  I  saw  him  plunge  in.  The  struggling 
of  his  large  and  powerful  horse  tended  not  to  reassure  me,  but  when 
safely  across,  he  said  he  would  return  and  exchange  horses  with 
me.  I  could  not  think  of  permitting  him  to  do  so,  and  this  gave  ^pe 
a  momentary  spasm  of  courage,  trusting  to  the  agility,  if  not 
strength  of  my  own  animal.  The  moment  of  descent  into  the 
pool  was  the  last  of  distinct  consciousness,  and  I  was  borne  through 
I  know  not  how.  When  I  recovered  I  found  myself  sitting  uppiji 
the  ground,  the  muddy  water  streaming  down  my  face,  where  it 
had  been  thrown  in  profusion  by  my  terrified  husband.  JEfy  had 
expected  to  see  me  fall  from  my  horse  into  the  stream.  I  had  not 
been  well  for  a  day  or  two,  and  this  descent  into  the  turbid, jff{\t$$ 
quite  unnerved  me. 


416  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

"  To  our  dismay  we  perceived  our  horses  had  strayed,  and  already 
it  was  almost  too  dark  to  see  the  trail,  our  sole  guide.  T  imme- 
diately anticipated  an  unguarded  night  in  the  wild  wood  before  us ; 
but  a  kind  Providence  induced  our  steeds  to  regard  my  husband's 
well  known  whistle,  and  both  returned  to  our  eager  grasp.  Ere  it 
was  quite  night  we  heard  the  cheering  sound  of  a  woodman's  axe, 
and  guided  by  its  repeated  stroke,  soon  perceived  a  dim  light  in  the 
distance.  On  coming  up  to  the  man,  who  seemed  to  be  cutting 
wood  for  culinary  purposes  of  the  night,  we  asked  for  the  trader  ; 
the  man  said  he  was  about  home,  and  could  accommodate  us  and 
our  horses  for  the  night.  We  passed  on.  I  entered  the  dwelling; 
it  was  laid  up  with  logs,  some  fifty  or  sixty  feet  square,  and  but  very 
recently  erected.  It  had  neither  door,  window,  nor  division  between 
earth  and  roof.  There  was  no  floor  laid,  except  for  a  small  part  of 
it,  which  formed  a  sort  of  dais,  on  which  were  two  bedsteads  and 
beds.  A  large  pleasant-looking  Frenchwoman  met  me,  and  in  im- 
perfect English  gave  me  a  cheerful  welcome.  I  believe  she  was 

r  o  o 

really  delighted  to  greet  me,  so  seldom  did  a  woman  find  her  way 
to  her  far-off  dwelling,  I  was  utterly  weary,  but  the  large,  bare, 
unfurnished  room  gave  but  little  promise  of  seclusion  or*  quiet. 
Supper  was  soon  served,  venison,  cranberries  and  bread,  with  a 
good  cup  of  tea,  sweetened  with  maple  sugar,  forming  our  meal.  I 
soon  found  that  eleven  men,  with  the  trader  and  his  wife,  and  her 
maid  of  all  work,  were  to  occupy  the  same  sleeping  apartment  with 
my  husband  and  myself.  I  was  too  much  jaded,  however,  to  regard 
the  absence  of  even  such  proprieties  of  life  with  much  sensibility, 
and  begged  to  go  to  bed,  as  my  only  prospective  comfort  on  earth. 
In  this  I  was  gratified,  and  within  an  hour  after  my  arrival  I  had 
taken  possession  of  one  of  the  two  visible  beds.  My  fellow-lodgers 
I  believe  rested  on  buffalo  skins  strewn  at  their  will  about  the  earth 
enclosed  by  the  logs. 

"  Soon  after  going  to  bed  I  discovered  what  my  husband  had  care- 
fully kept  from  me — that  we  were  surrounded  by  some  two  hun- 
dred Indians,  who  were  now  sheltered  in  the  hut  the  trader  had 
abandoned  for  this  new  one,  and  were  preparing  to  hold,  this  night, 


JOURNAL.  417 

one  of  their  peculiar  festivals.  Soon  after  they  commenced  their 
hideous  singing  and  dancing,  accompanied  by  the  beating  of  sticks 
upon  something  that  resembled  a  gong,  altogether  forming  a  com- 
bination of  sound  and  movement  as  revolting  as  any  thing  I  ever 
saw  or  heard.  In  the  intervals  when  they  paused  for  rest,  the  night 
hawks,  wheeling  close  to  our  low  hut,  by  their  wild  shrill  cries  effect- 
ually set  sleep  at  defiance.  Never  amid  earth's  varied  experiences 
shall  I  forget  that  night. 

"  Feverish  and  ill,  I  arose  the  next  morning,  with  scarcely  purpose 
enough  to  link  thought  with  plan,  but  on  the  suggestion  that  if  we 
proceeded  on  our  journey  to  the  Grand  River  country,  I  must  suffer 
myself  to  be  paddled  across  the  Thornapple  river  by  an  Indian,  alone 
with  him  in  his  canoe,  while  our  horses  should  swim  under  the 
guidance  of  my  husband,  I  decided  that  it  was  not  possible,  and 
soon  after  got  ready  to  retrace  our  steps.  To  avoid  the  re-crossing 
of  the  marsh,  and  the  discomforts  of  the  evening  before,  the  Indian 
trader,  at  our  suggestion,  indeed  solicitation,  promised  to  be  our 
guide  by  a  more  circuitous  route.  To  be  our  companion  it  was 
necessary  to  catch  one  of  the  many  Indian  ponies  that  were  feeding 
in  a  drove  not  far  from,  the  hut.  The  process  amazed  me  much. 
A  rope  was  fastened  to  the  side  of  the  house,  some  four  feet  from, 
the  ground,  and  two  or  three  of  the  Indians  held  the  line  firmly  at 
the  other  end,  while  others  drove  the  horses  up  towards  the  house, 
and  when  sufficiently  near,  quietly  enclosed  them  with  the  circling 
cord,  which  as  soon  as  the  horses  perceived,  they  yielded  quietly,  and 
the  one  selected  even  bowed  his  head  to  the  halter.  Experience 
had  evidently  taught  them  that  resistance  was  vain. 

#  *  #  *  *  * 

"  Late  on  Saturday  afternoon  we  arrived  at  the  village  of , 

where  we  proposed  spending  the  Sabbath.  Externally  the  inn  pro- 
mised well,  as  it  was  large,  well  ventilated,  and  apparently  comfor- 
tably furnished.  We  soon  tested  the  truth  of  the  ever  applicable 
maxim,  that  *  appearances  often  deceive.'  Our  supper  was  one  of  the 
worst  prepared  and  most  uncomfortable  meals  that  had  been  offered 
in  all  our  journey.  The  utter  want  of  cleanliness  was  absolutely 
18* 


418  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

disgusting,  and  no  part  of  the  house  seemed  in  its  arrangement  to 
recognize  the  fact  that  human  comfort  and  health  required  as  indis- 
pensable the  use  of  fresh  water  and  soap.  I  was  shown  with  some 
parade  into  my  room,  which  was  a  large  one,  furnished  barely  with 
the  things  required,  and  soon  retired  after  a  serious  conflict  between 
weariness  and  the  revulsion  of  feeling  occasioned  by  the  appearance 
of  the  bed.  However,  fatigue  triumphed  ;  and  protecting  myself 
from  contact  with  sheets  and  pillow-cases  as  best  I  might,  I  threw 
myself  upon  the  bed.  Almost  immediately  after  I  was  informed  in 
a  sort  of  apologetic  way,  that  my  room  was  the  thoroughfare  of  the 
sleeping  loft  above  ;  and  as  there  was  no  other  ingress  or  egress,  I 
was  compelled  to  acquiesce  in  the  arrangement,  as  if  it  were  a 
matter  of  course.  Some  twenty  men  passed  thus  to  their  repose  ; 
but  as  they  were  sad  laggards  on  the  beautiful  Sabbath,  I  was  able 
to  get  up,  and  take  such  time  as  I  pleased  for  my  toilet;  •'Mthoirt 
fear  of  being  disturbed. 

"  The  evening  before  I  had  ask6$'&&  littt&;tea8toSf$  o 
to  bring  me  in  the  <^ftlin^a  -ba&tf  o#  ;rw^£FAn$'^n#vv 
provided  -'Mysfetf'wl^^e^iit'el*  |Mfc4tf*ete0§f  *iee€><Mi 

nd  tkaft 


she 

-^  water, 
t^  I'^l 


^ftflfii      pfctiij^  ^fertf, 

amusement  too,-  W7aftfe%  -1Wm»t4  t%fi  g^'  '^  fcu^ttMTwith  'tlla  in- 

quest tB"at  I  wouM  lend  mf  towel  to'Athe  Judge*  (the  Circuit  Court 

&^^  ¥$w&$  ^^^"mo- 

.dt;u;fdj;3  ycf.)     rnhnoca  bsgoo-i     97/  Q'&ikr 


To^B^^ffga^^ 

a&fe'^^aii^^^tB 


t^^ 

softie  -aaR^iidN^  feeih- 
*8I 


419 


^.proportions:  ja 

tion,  and  exhibited  marks  (such  asjIfti^feOoJ^Wajftj  etc.,)  efv 
8jl(£5$?gy/  $k  4i5^$^{r^^fciftft^^K^W(Jti^al  effects  of  any  nYen- 
tal  skill.  hjJJ^^^blliP^^^  were  a^etti*- 

bled,  which  number  increased  in  about  twenty-five  minutes  to  as 
many  personfe3S;Iv^Qca6jQj§edvi®arJt  ^d-'fe^liifetttf^bbt^M^^audience 
contented  themselves  ^fei^^^^^Mn^fl^^Mi^f  of  T&^,  ^sinister, 

who  was  regularly  'iMtifoVeci  to'  preacli  twice  "on  the  Sabbath,  with 

.  .  ,        J7^.i9YJha  oHlBO  A 

conversation  one  with  another.     After  a  while,  when  the  delay  even 

to  the  villagers  seemed  unreasonable..  and  unaccountable,  and  pos- 

sibly the  *  on  dits'  of  the  past  week  had  been  thoroughly  gone 

over*  th^e,  was  a  vi^b,l|<y^ 

consent  they  evinced,  ^^pos^^t^;  igft^/Tf  39^,^  ^ft^^r^oAt 

last  one  man    arose,  obs^rvec^  $fti^$ffi$  ^pust^i&^m^t^g  the 

matter  with  tlieir  njjnjs^ejya^Ip^4ffifl^e^(^^ 

heard  of  his  having  kft,)^p^i-fr^9^^[fe^j?4rfe^W  $^y  thing 

respecting  him,  and  then  a  proposition  [jy^  iR^jB  jtOjjcljspiMe.     A 

hymn,  was  given  out 

in  a  powerful 

csix  verses  of  a  hymn  unknown  I 

ence,  an.^.\vj^icrli  was  entirely  Tm^ppijo^iiajt^  ^tii/fe^^Hd  circuin- 

iSff^o  :  o-^r/pa  desl  7towJ  10  neol(!^>b  ,01001  oao  ?m  Oj  ooar/rins 

-"Before  this  was  quite  ended  the  people.  ]aegan  to  go:  out,  and  at 

its  close  there  was  a  general'  movement  'Suddenly  this  seemed  to 


We  again  took  a^^^fe^i^vt^i^^f^mB  in 

and  up  to  the  desk  wi$.  :p^lm  ^^ulJ^-^ieH,;^^;  the  ordinary 
figur  ibr  his  duty  had  but  JH^WS§«  baAAlSdfl^W  .acwfoaoerif; 
w'ith  due  solemnity  he  arose,  and  insfead  of  oiferiiag  prayer,  or  any 
religious  sentiment^  ^id,c^oj^?[^|fy  fris^}%  J«  ^id'^Qttheai!  the  bell 
when  it  \vas  rung  this  morning,  and  forgot;,  to,  lQpk4i/Ba^jwatieh  ;  I 
was  waiting  foy  the  bell  ^fyen,vpnje  of;  ^^Jftiing  ftien  came  up  for 
few,  Jf$>he^  flf 


V,w  lied  Jucxln  bir;I 


420  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF  THE    WEST. 

prayer,  benediction,  or  reminder  of  any  sort  that  this  was  holy 
time,  we  were  allowed  to  depart. 

"That  afternoon  my  husband  and- myself  preferred  to  worship  in 
the  glorious  temple  of  the  adjoining  forest,  where  we  found 

M  k  ?Neath  cloistered  boughs  the  floral  bell  that  swingeth, 

And  tolls  its  perfume  on  the  passing  air, 
Makes  Sabbath  in  the  woods,  and  ever  ringeth 
A  call  to  prayer.7  n 


A  few  extracts  from  another  journal  of  a  lady  residing  in  Michigan, 
whose  family  removed  thither  in  1837,  and  as  usual  occupied  a  log 
cabin  till  their  house  was  ready,  will  further  illustrate  our  subject. 

11  The  house  stood  on  a  plain  which  had  once  been  covered  with 
beautiful  trees,  of  which  now  remained  only  the  stumps — for  every 
thing  like  a  tree  which  could  possibly  cast  its  longest  shadow  within 
range  of  the  dwelling  had  been  hewn  down ;  and  there,  as  an  old 
woman  said  to  me, i  the  sun  could  shine  in  nicely  all  day  long,  looking 
so  improvement  like  ;'  and  there  the  tenement  stood,  not  with  bare 
walls,  for  the  native  bark  had  not  left  the  logs.  A  small  door  gave 
entrance  to  its  one  room,  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  square ;  one  little 
window  with  four  panes  of  glass  made  darkness,  dust,  and  cobwebs 
visible  ;  a  huge  i  Dutch  chimney '  occupied  the  opposite  side,  and  as 
time  had  been  busy  with  its  untempered  clay,  having  broken  away 
one  half  its  hearth  and  left  many  of  its  ribs  bare,  added  greatly  to 
the  dust  a-nd  litter  covering  the  black  oaken  boards  of  the  floor. 
These  boards  had  been  laid  down  without  planing  or  nailing  to  the 
beams  on  which  they  rested,  and  it. behoved  one  to  step  daintily  in 
approaching  their  extremities.  I  giddily  wished  to  be  first  to  set  foot 
within  our  new  home,  and  had  jumped  from  the  carriage  and  rushed 
to  the  latch-string,  exclaiming  *  now  on  your  patron  lady  call,' 
when  I  found  myself  landed  in  the  cellar.  Fortunately  it  was  not 
very  deep,  and  on  my  ascension,  mamma's  rueful  face  warned  me  to 
make  merry  of  it  all.  New  rough  boards  were  laid  about  half  way 


t  JOURNAL.  -      421 

across  the  beams  overhead,  and  these  our  l  landlord '  called  the 
*  chamber  floor.'  The  ascent  was  by  a  ladder  of  most  primitive 
construction."  *  *  +* 

"  We  have  knelt  together  in  prayer  for  the  first  time  in  our  new 
home,  and  have  gathered  around  the  family  board  to  our  first  meal 
in  our  'own  wilderness.  This  family  board  was  two  boards  resting 
at  either  end  on  barrels,  and  we  sat  on  our  trunks,  as  we  have  no 
chairs ;  our  furniture  cannot  be  brought  from  Detroit  until  the  mud 
assuages  and  the  dry  land  begins  to  appear.  Seventeen  of  us  sat 
down,  and  my  dear  father  looked  quite  patriarchal,  dispensing  food 
to  such  a  multitude.  Such  artificial  distinctions  as  servant  and 
master  not  eating  together,  are  not  to  be  known  among  us."  *  * 

"  We  have  tacked  sheets  against  the  edges  of  the  boards  consti- 
tuting the  '  chamber  floor,'  which  are  to  be  drawn  up  during  the 
day,  and  at  night  let  down  to  form  a  sleeping  room  for  what  our 
helps  call  the  i  females.'  We  have  made  a  bedstead  for  papa  and 
mamma,  by  putting  together  six  large  trunks,  which  during  the  day- 
time serve  us  for  seats,  and  fortunately  we  brought  a  feather  bed 
in  the  baggage- wagon.  For  the  rest  we  have  filled  straw  ticks  with 
the  sweet  smelling  marsh  hay. 

4i  May  24:th. — Last  night  just  as  sleep  had  pressed  his  heaviest 
seal  upon  our  eyelids,  the  fearful  cry  of  *  fire,'  dispelled  his  poppy 
charm.  We  waked  to  a  startling  consciousness  of  danger,  at  the  red 
glare  and  roaring  crackling  flames.  Then  dash  went  the  cold  water, 
darkness  followed,  and  then  came  running  little  rivulets  of  the 
extinguishing  element,  making  deposits  around  our  beds  upon  the 
floor.  We  were  half  frozen  for  the  rest  of  the  night,  and  this  morn- 
ing they  are  building  a  new  chimney.  The  logs  are  sawn  out,  and 
large  cobble  stones  piled  one  upon  another — the  chinks  filled  in 
with  clay — then  from  among  the  trees  of  the  forest  are  sought  out  a 
couple  of  bent  boughs  with  exactly  the  right  curve — these  are  the 
jams,  and  are  fastened — the  upper  ends  from  ten  to  twelve  feet 
apart — in  the  beams  that  support  the  second  floor.  They  are  set 
from  five  to  six  feet  from  the  logs  of  the  house  side,  into  which 
their  lower  ends  are  securely  fastened.  A  quantity  of  green  wood 


422  PIONEER   WOMEN    OF   THE   WEST. 


is  then  split  up  into  slats,  nailed  across  jtkisfe  '.a&d  aJsolaid  up  above 
them  as  children  build  pens  ^isth  j^rn,  ;  cobs,  gradually  lessening  as 
they  approach  the  roof,  from  whicjh  ,theya-ise  st>me  tVtQ,  feet  ;  the 

vyith{  new:^laj,jajpidij;h^/^ii$iU6f  is 
,lrdi^  ta  top  ; 
Qr  some  yearn, 
good  thing  that 
i  $e£ase<i  *£>  ;  go  to 
dblQu£e,  -.although 
torttft  'j®*e$k,rfor  life-  ?;£hi& 
pereeveirawoe  inr:an  old'itabit  &mT-ed'Ws  ciur  present  fetime,  as  the  fire 
rieve^  coyd^have-beenc^extingaaiisliedoif,  the-  wateir  had  not  been  on 
tfe&pot.  od  'j  ,!1  ^>  a^taorfrte!;'  -: 

?&  Our  carpenter  is  :making;  us  :some,  -seats  and  a  table.  The 
latter)  consists  of  >  two:wo9den  horses  iwith  a  nioveable  top,  raade,-ofi;. 
four  boards  nicely  plainedj'and  gomed  together  :  the  seats  are  slabs 
about  'f<bur  feet  1  oi7g,  ^vith  four  sticlds  driven  for  legs.  They  .  aee  o®& 
and  all  to  go  out  of  doors  at;  nightSj'to  ilet.  the  .beds  come,  in  —  the 
Latter  <take  day  board  on  the  fence.  Some  wooden  pins  have  been 
driven  into  the  logs  on  one  side  of  the  house^rand  boards  placed 
upcfn  thiem  Tor  shalyeSy  and  on  ,the>se  must  repose  the  milk-pans, 
dishes,  -<fec.  ;  When  we  -\tould  go  into  the  cellar  we  tiike  up  an 
entim-  l&oai'd  ^ind  jump  down  .about  four  feet.  But  what  are.  a  few 
trifling  inconveniences;  in  the  midst  of  a  world  so  robed  in  beauty,  so 
garlandedf-wrth  flowers  1 

"  May  2^^,-r-Papa  inquired  yesterday  at  dinner  of  our  landl^Kd* 
if  "he  -could1  find  us  ^washerwoman.  His  characteristic  reply  was, 
that  h«:  presumed  the  widow  Lewis:  would  willingly  come  and  help 
us  wash,  if  she  was  sure  of  being  '  treated  like  a  hunmn.'  '  And 
how  shall  that  be  V  asked  papa.  i  Oh,  if  the  young  ladies  will  call 
on  her.  You  know  t£ue  folks  Tound  here  think  you  are  all  so 
proucV  Papa  looked  at  me,  and  I  said  I-  would  call  if  it  was  not 
too  feu;  '?  Oh  they  Mv4  just  over;  tbe;Ml^not^  more  than  half  a  mile, 
is  i  the  daughter  of  eld  Mr<  j  Eteaiii,  who  ;was,iher^ 
>basJ  fee;  --c 


JOURNAL.  423 

their  wives  and  two  children  each,  also  living  with  them  in  the 
house,  and  then  there  is  another  daughter,  Jenny  Deans,  as  they 
call  her,  quite  an  old  girl.'  My  ideas  brightened  at  the  charmed 
name  of  t  Jenny  Deans,'  and  I  began  to  fancy  it  would  be  pleasant 
to  call  —  and  so  call  we  did  —  but  the  Deans  were  all  gone  for  the 
cows.  We  went  in  and  had  a  little  chat  with  old  Mrs.  Deans, 
whose  pale  grey  hair  neatly  folded  beneath  the  plain 
quite  beautiful.  It  was  a  very  comfortable 
clean  and  stationary  floor  —  its  tvY^]d^r 
other  —  its  large  sash,  W&doiKjiJK^^ 

'  Your  howa  McfriKb  te^ib&wfcMf.fifr^  o^flrosA  Upwpfet0 


iinf»&ito?fite 
-woff 


morrow.     Mamma  could  not  coax  $hem  to  ~4ake  it  to  themsejvfss 


4Ktotoi^ 


ill  not 
.  to  ;our 
il^B^^ 


^p4  to 

tf  ^tellSJWi 

the  grand  washing  were  placed  in^our 


of 

^oW^i^Mta  M^^ 
our  way  beneath  those  stately  old  oaks  which,  shading  the  flow- 


424  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

eiy  lawns,  deserve  the  name  of  oak  orchards.  The  birds  were 
singing  and  the  sun  was  shining,  and  not  yet  were  tho  dewdrops 
exhaled.  Those  pert  little  children  of  spring,  the  anemones  and 
violets,  were  everywhere  opening  their  blue  eyes.  On  one  side  of  a 
growing  wheatfield,  a  soft  green  sward  sloped  gently  to  the  shore  of 
a  little  gem  of  a  lake,  bordered  by  a  stately  growth  of  park-like 
trees  on  all  sides  but  one,  where  a  heavy  growth  of  tamarack  cast  a 
deep  shadow,  beautiful  from  the  contrast  of  cheerful  light.  In  the 
most  picturesque  spot  on  .the  borders  of  this  lake  was  built  our 
gipsy  fire — and  around  it  were  gathered  such  a  group !  The 
beau  of  the  morning  was  the  man  who  owns  our  log  tenement,  and 
acts  in  the  double  capacity  of  landlord  and  laborer ;  beside  him  sat 
upon  the  same  log  Jenny  Deans.  Oh,  with  what  a  broken  pinion 
came  fancy  from  her  dreamland  flight — and  yet  she  seems  a  char- 
acter in  her  way — dressed  in  a  gown  of  many  colors,  from  the  oft 
application  of  a  new  piece  to  the  old  garment.  Her  ugliness,  how- 
ever, faded  to  a  thing  of  naught  beside  the  Lewis  family — the 
whole  of  whom,  six  in  number,  were  present  with  us  for  the  entire 
day.  *  *  *  * 

"  Mamma  is  beginning  to  look  almost  worn  out  with  her  many 
cares,  and  constant  watching  and  anxiety  about  papa,  who  suffers 
continually.  It  seems  as  if  those  who  sit  beside  the  sick  and  suffer- 
ing endure  half  their  agony,  feel  every  pain  that  racks  the  anguished 
nerves,  and  almost  lose  their  identity  in  the  strong  sympathy  that 
hour  after  hour  binds  frail  woman  to  the  side  of  the  weary  couch, 
through  long  nights  suspending  every  breath  and  motion  of  the 
tired  frame,  longing  to  hush  the  very  beatings  of  her  heart,  lest  she 
disturb  the  light  half  slumber  of  the  invalid.  Ah,  these  are  tho 
hours  that  take  large  drafts  from  life,  that  dim  the  flush  of  youth, 
that  drink  the  dew  of  the  morning.  But  they  give  the  soul  its 
beauty  and  perfection,  and  therefore  should  we  rejoice  that  they  are 
woman's  allotted  task." 

"  May  29th. — Mrs.  B was  telling  us  to-day  that  many 

people  lived  for  weeks  last  winter  on  boiled  acorns.  It  is  almost 


JOURNAL.  425 

impossible  to  get  seed  for  planting — potatoes  after  the  eyes  were  cut 
out,  it  is  said,  have  sold  for  ten  dollars  a  bushel." 

"June  \st. — A  barrel  of  white  fish  is  spoiled  to-day.  The  field 
mice  have  got  into  the  milk  pans  and  committed  suicide." 

"June  2nd. — Returning  with  little  Jessie  from  a  visit,  as  the  twi- 
light was  beginning  to  grow  shadowy,  we  crossed  the  desert  marsh 
and  came  in  sight  of  a  lonely  house  on  its  verge.  On  the  height 
that  overlooked  our  way,  stood  a  woman  looking  weird  as  any 
Meg  Merrilies  that  ever  haunted  "  Ellengowan."  Her  form  was  tall, 
straight  and  very  lank,  a  closely  clinging,  scanty  garment  of  a 
gloomy  gray  material  added,  if  possible,  to  her  height ;  her  head 
was  covered  with  a  red  bandanna,  pinned  cornerwise  beneath  her 
chin,  in  her  hand  she  held  an  oaken  stick,  and  just  as  we  came  near 
she  was  lifting  up  her  voice  to  cry  aloud.  The  shriek  formed  itself 
into  the  words,  "  have  you  seen  Mary  ?  have  you  seen  Mary  or  the 
cow  ?"  I  had  not  seen  Mary  or  the  cow,  and  went  on  my  way- 
wondering.  It  seems  the  tall  woman  is  no  common  person.  Ac- 
cording to  the  heraldry  of  the  wild  woods  the  Winch  el's  are  quite 
a  distinguished  family.  Such  distinction  would  have  suited  the 
leader  of  a  bandit  horde  in  the  dark  forests  of  old  Germany,  or  have 
given  renown  to  one  of  the  fierce  barons  of  feudal  times.  Uncle 
Jake,  as  the  head  of  the  house  is  called,  inhabits  the  lonely  log  cabin 
by  the  marsh-side,  and  exercises  his  taste  for  cruelty  at  the  expense 
of  his  cattle  instead  of  the  lives  of  his  fellow  creatures,  so  we  call 
him  an  old  savage,  and  probably  his  name  will  die  with  him,  as  die 
yearly  many  of  his  flocks  and  herds  from  the  effects  of  his  blows. 
Strange  to  say,  however,  this  rude,  fierce  man,  with  all  his  uncurbed 
passions  and  taste  for  club  discipline,  has  never  been  known  to  ill- 
treat  his  wife.  It  is  said  she  commands  his  respect  in  an  extraor- 
dinary degree  by  her  quiet  dignity  of  manner  and  womanly  reserve, 
never  noticing  his  violent  outbursts  of  rage,  nor  interfering  in  the 
least  with  his  proceedings,  though  he  has  during  the  few  years  of 
their  sojourn  here,  beaten  two  cows  to  death  and  several  oxen. 
Their  food  is  of  the  coarsest  kind,  but  she  asks  no  luxuries ;  the  social 
tea-kettle  finds  no  place  on  their  hearth,  no  chicken  scratches  in  the 


426  PIONEER    WOMEN    OF   THE    WEST. 

desolate  barnyard,  no  soft-furred  pussy  purrs  beside  the  door,  no 
dog  could  live  upon  the  premises ;  corn,  bread,  potatoes,  and  milk 
when  the  cow  gets  leave  to  live,  constitute  their  bill  of  fare  the  year 
round.  Only  one  child  and  that  a  daughter  has  come  to  the  desolate 
home  of  these  people,  the  Mary  who  was  missing  to-night. 

"  June  3rd. — We  had  another  visitor  this  afternoon.  A  pleas- 
ant, kind  looking  man,  of  a  most  excellent  countenance,  rode  up 
to  the  door  and  claimed  papa  as  a  cousin,  and  was  recognised  at 
once  though  they  had  not  met  for  twenty  years.  He  has  a  house 
full  of  daughters  with  whom  we  are  to  be  excellent  friends,  although 
they  live  some  fifteen  miles  hence,  and  he  promises  us  some  chickens 
and  a  kitten,  a  necessary  kind  of  domestics  that  we  have  not  yet 
seen  in  the  region  round  about.  A  good  old  woman,  too,  has  sent 
for  the  washing,  which  she  will  perform  at  her  own  house,  without 
any  of  us  acting  as  laundry  maids.  The  drove  of  calves  is  increas- 
ing, and  they  begin  to  talk  about  sacrificing  the  two  oldest,  but 
Liney  and  Niagara  shall  not  want  for  petitioners  before  the  house  of 
Lords." 

"  June  10 th. — Rain !  rain  !  rain  !  For  three  days  the  windows 
of  heaven  have  been  opened,  and  torrents  of  water  have  fallen  ov^er 
the  earth,  and  some  few  cataracts  have  found  their  way  through 
our  roof,  which,  by  the  way,  is  not  shielded  by  shingles,  but  covered 
with  long  slabs  held  down  by  poles  of  tamarack  or  willow. 

"  When  the  door  is  open  the  rain  beats  in,  and  when  it  is  closed 
the  chimney  smokes.  The  cattle,  on  social  thoughts  intent,  have 
gathered  round  the  house,  from  which  no  fence  excludes  them,  and 
thus  increase  the  mud  every  body  is  bringing  in  on  their  feet.  The 
beds  are  piled  up  in  one  corner ;  the  table  seems  more  huge  than 
ever;  the  topheavy  slab  seats  are  continually  tumbling  over; 
papa's  rheumatism  is  horrible  ;  the  baby  cries  because  of  the 
smoke ;  the  men,  under  shadow  of  the  ladder,  are  mending  nets 
and  making  hoe  handles,  ox  bows,-  and  whip  stocks,  and  of  course 
increasing  the  general  litter  with  their  whittling ;  the  children  are 
building  play-houses  under  the  table,  and  of  course  greatly  facili- 
tating the  motion  of  the  pen  essaying  to  write  above.  The  four 


JOURNAL.  427 

little  panes  of  glass  just  make  darkness  visible,  and  around  them 
those  who  would  read  or  write  congregate — a  solemn  looking 
assemblage,  and  as  ruminating  as  those  chewing  the  cud  without. 
But  the  children  are  coming  from  under  the  table  asking  for  a 
story ;  the  babe  consents  to  go  to  sleep ;  the  shavings  are  swept 
into  the  fire,  which  therefore  concludes  to  blaze  more  and  smoke 
less ;  our  good  father  is  falling  into  a  doze,  and  so  the  owl's  eyes 
shall  be  laid  aside  with  madam  goose's  fragment,  and  pleasant  fairy- 
dom  come  with  its  gorgeous  dreams  at  the  juvenile  bidding.  It 
will  not  take  much  imagination  after  this  week's  experience  for  them 
to  believe  that  whole  nations  of  people  could  live  in  a  nut-shell,  or 
more  magnificent  still,  inhabit  gorgeous  palaces  within  the  cup  of 
the  lily." 


XXV. 

ELIZABETH    KENTON* 

THE  name  of  Simon  Kenton  has  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  annals 
of  the  early  pioneers,  second  only  to  that  of  the  renowned  woodsman, 
Daniel  Boone.  One  of  the  counties  of  Kentucky  is  named  after 
him,  and  the  incidents  of  his  life  are  related  in  the  history  of  that 
State  and  in  many  biographical  sketches,  forming  a  narrative  more 
thrilling  in  interest  than  any  romance  ever  written.  Such  instances 
of  desperate  and  mortal  encounter,  such  hairbreadth  escapes  from 
imminent  peril,  such  hours  of  fearful  suspense  and  sudden  alterna- 
tions from  hope  to  despair,  from  the  very  grasp  of  death  to  unex- 
pected deliverance,  were  surely  never  pictured  by  pure  imagination. 
Born  in  Virginia,  he  was  involved  when  scarcely  grown  to  manhood 
in  a  romantic  adventure  growing  out  of  rivalry  in  love,  which  camo 
near  to  having  a  fatal  termination,  and  launched  him  into  life  with 
no  protection  but  a  resolute  spirit  and  a  robust  frame.  Leaving  his 
home,  he  plunged  into  the  wilderness  of  the  Alleghany  mountains, 
and  joining  parties  of  explorers  and  traders,  spent  two  or  three  years 

*  The  papers  relating  to  Mrs.  Kenton  were  received  after  the  volume 
was  stereotyped,  which  accident  causes  the  appearance  of  the  memoir  thus 
out  of  its  proper  place.  It  should  be  read  next  to  that  of  Rebecca  Boone, 
I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  B.  Henkle,  Esq.,  of  Rensselaer,  Indiana,  to 
whom  the  materials  were  furnished  by  the  daughter  of  Gen.  Keaton. 


ELIZABETH    KENTON.  429 

in  hunting  and  trapping  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Kanawha  river 
till  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  between  the  Indian  tribes  and  the 
colonies  in  1774,  in  which  campaign  he  did  service  as  a  spy.  With 
two  companions  he  afterwards  penetrated  the  wilds  of  Kentucky  and 
built  a  cabin  on  the  spot  where  now  stands  the  town  of  Washington, 
aiding  the  other  settlers  in  their  struggles  with  the  Indians,  and 
meeting  with  many  adventures.  The  most  remarkable  of  these — 
unparalleled  in 'the  history  of  the  West — is  the  succession  of  inci- 
dents that  followed  his  capture  by  the  Indians  when  carrying  off 
some  of  their  horses.  For  weeks  his  fate  vibrated  between  life  and 
death,  the  gleams  of  sunshine  quickly  followed  by  deepest  gloom, 
no  efforts  or  wisdom  of  his  own  availing  aught  to  save  him  at  any 
time,  but  the  changes  in  his  fortune  wrought  by  seeming  accidents. 
He  was  tied,  Mazeppa-Iike,  on  the  back  of  an  unbroken  horse  ;  was 
eight  times  exposed  to  the  gauntlet,  and  three  times  bound  to  the. 
stake,  with  no  prospect  of  rescue  from  a  terrible  death.  Once  he 
was  saved  by  the  interference  of  Simon  Girty,  who,  learning  his 
name,  discovered  in  him  an  old  companion  and  friend  ;  once  the 
celebrated  Mingo  chief,  Logan,  interceded  in  his  behalf,  and  he  was 
rescued  by  an  Indian  agent.  These  experiences,  and  his  after  ser- 
vices with  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clarke,  and  in  other  campaigns  to 
the  close  of  Wayne's  decisive  one,  are  fully  related  in  recent  biogra- 
phies. 

The  first  wife  of'  Gen.  Kenton  was  Martha  Dowden,  to  whom  ho 
was  married  about  1785,  in  Mason  County,  Kentucky.  They  lived 
together  ten  years,  when  she  died,  leaving  him  four  children,  all  of 
whom  lived  to  maturity.  The  only  survivor  among  them  is  the  wife 
of  John  McCord,  of  Urbana,  Ohio. 

Elizabeth,  the  second  wife,  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  Stephen 
Jarboe,  a  native  of  France,  who  settled  first  in  Maryland,  where  he 
married  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Clelland.  She  was  a 
well  educated  woman,  and  a  deeply  spiritual  Christian,  in  member- 
ship with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  family  removed  to  Mason 
County,  Kentucky,  about  the  year  1796,  at  which  time  Elizabeth, 
the  daughter,  was  seventeen  years  old.  Her  opportunities  of  educa- 


430  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

tion  had  been  such  as  were  usual  in  that  early  day,  when  the 
acquirements  of  women  were  generally  confined  to  reading,  writing, 
and  the  elements  of  arithmetic. 

Not  long  after  the  removal  to  Kentucky,  Mr.  Jarboe  was  obliged 
to  go  to  Maryland,  whence  he  was  prevented  from  returning  to  his 
family  by  ill  health,  for  seven  or  eight  years.  It  will  be  borne  in 
mind  that  travelling,  in  those  days,  was  no  light  undertaking. 
Within  that  time  Mrs.  Jarboe  with  her  children  had  removed  into 
what  is  now  Clarke  County  in  Ohio.  Her  home  was  with  her  young- 
est son,  Philip  Jarboe,  about  four  miles  north  of  Springfield,  where 
she  died  in  the  spring  of  1808.  Shortly  after  her  death  Mr.  Jarboe 
was  enabled  to  return,  and  in  the  same  year,  at  the  same  house,  he 
also  closed  his  earthly  pilgrimage.  His  acquaintances  remember  his 
arrival — a  feeble  old  man,  sadly  emaciated,  coming,  as  he  said,  to 
lay  his  bones  by  the  side  of  her  who  was  the  companion  of  his  youth. 
After  a  life  of  many  sorrows  they  sleep  in  a  quiet  spot  within  sight 
of  the  Mad  River  and  Lake  Erie  Railroad,  near  their  last  home  on 
earth. 

Their  daughter  Elizabeth  was  a  young  woman  of  rare  attractions 
of  person  and  manner,  and  as  it  may  be  supposed,  had  numerous 
admirers.  Among  -these  a  Mr.  Reuben  Clark  had  found  favor  in 
her  eyes,  and  it  was  expected  that  she  would  marry  him.  But  the 
sagacious  pioneer  and  hero  of  Indian  encounters  had  seen  and  loved 
her,  and  moreover  had  lost  none  of  his  early  aversion  to  a  rival. 
He  gave  young  Clark  some  employment  which  took  him  to  Virginia, 
and  would  oblige  him  to  be  absent  a  considerable  length  of  time. 
Having  removed  him  from  the  scene  of  action,  he  laid  siege  presently 
to  the  heart  of  the  fair  lady,  and  brought  the  citadel,  ere  long,  to 
terms  of  capitulation.  They  were  married  in  the  year  1798,  at 
Kenton's  Station,  the  Rev.  William  Wood  of  the  Baptist  Church 
officiating ;  nor  did  the  wife  ever  again  see  her  former  lover 

A  few  months  after  the  marriage,  General  and  Mrs.  Ken  ton  re- 
moved to  Cincinnati,  where  they  resided  six  or  eight  months,  and 
removed  in  the  spring  of  1799,  to  what  was  then  called  the  Mad 
River  country.  Their  first  residence  was  near  a  trading  house  kept 


ELIZABETH    KENTON.  431 

by  a  Frenchman  named  De  Baw,  about  four  miles  north  of  Spring 
field.  The  whole  region,  at  that  period,  was  an  almost  unbroken 
wilderness,  traversed  continually  by  parties  of  Indians,  who,  though 
not  openly  hostile,  were  exceedingly  troublesome.  Often  when  in- 
toxicated they  would  visit  the  cabins  of  the  settlers,  and  finding  the 
men  absent,  by  threats  extort  provisions  and  .whiskey  from  the 
women.  On  one  occasion,  when  there  were  no  men  on  the  premises, 
and  all  was  quiet  in  Mrs.  Kenton's  cabin,  the  door  was  suddenly 
burst  open,  and  a  drunken  Indian,  entirely  naked,  came  in  and  de- 
manded whiskey,  threatening  to  kill  her,  with  furious  gestures,  in 
case  of  refusal.  When  he  found  his  menaces  were  likely  to  be  of 
no  avail,  he  snatched  up  the  child,  her  eldest  daughter,  out  of  the 
cradle,  and  made  for  the  camp  of  the  savages  as  fast  as  his  feet  could 
carry  him.  The  feelings  of  the  terrified  mother  cannot  easily  be 
described  ;  but  her  agony  of  suspense  was  soon  over ;  the  rest  of 
the  party  immediately  brought  back  the  child,  and  called  upon  Mrs. 
Kenton  to  say  what  punishment  should  be  inflicted  on  the  delinquent. 
She  required  nothing,  however,  but  to  be  protected  against  such 
outrages  in  future. 

o 

The  home  of  the  forest  warrior  consisted  of  two  roughly  con- 
structed log  cabins,  with  the  usual  accompaniment  of  puncheon 
floors,  mud  chimneys,  clapboard  doors,  etc.  Here  were  established 
Kenton's  family,  composed  of  himself  and  wife  with  five  children, 
and  his  two  mothers-in-law  with  their  families,  besides  some  black 
people.  Their  experiences  of  privation  and  suffering  during  the 
earliest  years  of  the  settlement  may  be  understood  in  some  measure 
by  those  already  described ;  but  there  were  circumstances  which 
added  much  to  the  trials  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mrs.  Kenton.  The 
General,  it  will  be  remembered,  being  one  of  the  earliest  pioneers 
of  Kentucky,  besides  defending  the  first  settlers  against  their  Indian 
foes,  had  located  their  pre-emptions,  traversing  with  them  the  rugged 
mountains  and  rich  valleys  in  search  of  the  best  lands.  The  latch- 
string  of  Kenton's  cabin  always  hung  outside  the  door,  and  a 
welcome  was  ready  for  all  who  sought  his  hospitality.  His 
generosity  and  habitual  kindness  to  strangers  had  contributed 


PIONEER    WOMEN    OF    THE    WEST. 

as  much  as  that  of  any  other  man  in  Kentucky  to  stamp  the 
character  for  liberal  hospitality,  since  proverbially  attached  to 
the  State.  He  was  extensively  known,  and  had  the  reputation  of 
wealth  ;  his  wealth,  however,  consisted  wholly  in  Kentucky  land 
claims,  which  were  totally  unproductive,  while  his  cabin  was  the 
resort  of  every  shelterless  emigrant,  land  hunter,  or  soldier,  and  even 
the  wandering  Indian  had  liberty  at  any  time  to  claim  the  supply 
of  his  wants.  The  readers  of  Gen.  Kenton's  life  will  recollect  the 
incident  of  an  Indian  at  old  Chilicothe  seizing  an  axe  and  breaking 

O  p 

his  arm  with  it.  The  name  of  this  savage  was  Boner,  and  it  was 
afterwards  his  custom  to  come  frequently  to  his  house,  and  after  eat- 
ing and  drinking,  amuse  the  company  by  acting  out  a  pantomime 
representing  his  own  outbreak  of  fury,  and  the  terror  and  grief  of 
Mrs.  Kenton  on  that  occasion. 

With  this  continual  influx  of  visitors,  for  whom  provision  was 
necessary  as  well  as  for  the  wants  of  a  large  family,  with  means  of 
procuring  none  of  the  luxuries  and  but  few  of  the  comforts  of  life, 
and  without  congenial  society,  the  first  ten  years  of  Mrs.  Ken  ton's 
residence  in  Ohio  were  passed  in  incessant  toil  and  privation,  relieved 
by  little  of  the  quiet  so  necessary  to  one  like  her,  and  so  ardently 
desired.  But  she  was  a  seeker  of  "  a  better  country,"  and  the  firm 
faith  of  a  Christian  sustained  her  in  every  difficulty.  In  1808  she 
became  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  1810, 
Gen.  Kenton  removed  to  Urbana,  in-  Champaign  County,  where  the 
family  lived  eight  years.  Here  their  privations  were  less,  but  Mrs. 
Kenton  suffered  from  incessant  mental  anxiety  caused  by  the  injus- 
tice done  her  husband,  and  the  loss  he  sustained  in  endeavoring  to 
recover  something  of  his  extensive  land  claims  in  Kentucky.  Being 
wholly  uneducated,  he  was  obliged  to  entrust  the  management  of  his 
business  to  agents  who  proved  dishonest,  and  involved  him  in  inex- 
tricable lawsuits  in  which  he  was  mulcted  in  heavy  costs.  JSTay 
more,  truth  compels  the  record  which  is  a  stain  upon  the  national 
honor — the  barbarous  laws  then  in  force,  sanctioning  these  wrongs, 
permitted  the  imprisonment  of  the  brave  pioneer,  and  his  confine- 
ment within  "  prison  bounds,"  for  several  of  the  best  years  of  his 


ELIZABETH    KKNTON.  433 

life.  Thus  was  he  reduced  from  a  supposed  condition  of  opulence 
to  abject  poverty,  and  even  pursued  like  a  felon,  his  free  spirit  har- 
assed by  more  than  the  deprivation  of  liberty  to  the  limbs,  the 
sense  of  cruel  injustice  and  oppression. 

Mrs.  Ken  ton  possessed  a  disposition  peculiarly  sensitive,  and  these 
wrongs  and  sorrows  embittered  what  should  have  been  the  happiest 
years  of  her  life.  In  1818,  having  procured  a  small  portion  of 
wild  land  in  what  is  now  Logan  County,  they  took  up  their  resi- 
dence upon  it,  obtaining  from  it  a  meagre  living,  for  from  those 
who  had  thronged  around  them  in  the  days  of  their  prosperity. 
In  1836,  after  enduring  much  suffering,  Gen.  Kenton  departed  this 
life,  rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of  one  where  his  portion  could  not  be 
taken  from  him.  His  faithful  wife  attended  him  in  his  painful 
illness  with  the  assiduous  tenderness  and  care  bestowed  by  a  mother 
on  her  child.  Her  spirits,  already  weighed  down  by  calamity,  were 
broken,  and  her  strong  constitution  impaired  by  the  exertions  neces- 
sary in  this  labor  of  love,  and  after  her  husband's  death  she  never 
recovered  her  health  or  cheerfulness.  In  the  same  year  she  removed 
to  Indiana.  Her  strength  gradually  declined  until  the  autumn  of 
1842,  when  she  became  almost  helpless.  Having  long  looked  on 
approaching  death  with  calmness  and  Christian  hope,  she  quietly 
made  a  disposition  of  her  remaining  effects,  leaving  to  each  of  her 
children  and  grand-children  a  small  bequest,  in  token  of  affectionate 
remembrance.  To  the  sons  of  her  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Parkison, 
she  left  quilts  on  which  she  had  wrought  their  names  with  her  own 
hand.  Her  faculties  were  retained  perfectly  to  the  last,  though  she 
spoke  not  for  some  hours  before  the  final  moment.  Her  sufferings 
terminated  at  the  residence  of  J.  G.  Parkison,  her  son-in-law,  in 
Jasper  County,  Indiana,  Nov.  27th,  1842. 

Mrs.  Kenton  was  rather  tall,  and  had  a  very  graceful  figure ;  her 
complexion  was  extremely  fair,  and  she  had  blue  eyes  and  dark 
hair.  Her  daughter,  Mrs.  Parkison,  describes  her  appearance  on 
one  occasion,  on  returning  from  Dayton,  thirty  miles  distant,  where 
she  had  been  to  acknowledge  a  deed.  She  wore  a  dark  calico  dress 
made  in  the  fashion  then  called  a  habit ;  long-waisted,  and  the 
19 


4:34:  PIONEER   WOMEN   OF   THE   WEST. 

skirt  plaited  full  all  around  ;  over  this  a  "Joseph,"  or  short  riding 
dress  of  brown  cassimere,  with  green  spots,  and  a  green  silk  or 
satin  bonnet  differing  little  from  the  late  fashion,  without  a  cap. 

This  lady  remembers,  among  the  visitors  at  her  father's  house, 
old  Isaac  Zane,  who  had  an  Indian  wife.  He  brought  his  half- 
breed  daughter  to  be  instructed  by  Mrs.  Kenton  in  the  knowledge 
and  manners  of  the  white  ladies.  Ebenezer  Zane,  his  son,  was  also  a 
frequent  visitor,  and  told  Miss  Kenton  he  had  named  his  little 
daughter — Matilda — after  her.  The  child  received  the  customary 
present,  and  some  twenty  years  afterwards  Mrs.  Parkison  was  sur- 
prised at  being  shown  a  piece  of  the  new  dress  given  her  little  name- 
sake by  the  General.  Mrs.  Parkison  still  resides  in  Indiana. 


.     I  ft  3 


